Turning back the pendulum
by Arkueid
Summary: After listening to the voice of a stranger in his dreams, he looks for a way to turn back the pendulum far, far behind; in a time of magic and dragons. Post-series. Shirou x Saber.
1. A mysterious dream

Before beginning, I would like to thanks the people that helped me with this chapter and with the fiction in general. Thanks to Yuleen, because even if she doesn't like F/SN a lot, she still read it, commented and supported me. Thanks to gmsephiroth for betareading this, because without your help, this fanfic wouldn't be here.

This fic is based on the time after the Holy Grail, so there'll be a lot of spoilers. I came up with everything I wrote here, the only things that will stay the same are some of the characters backgrounds and everything that happened_ before_ this story.

Any comment or productive critic will be useful.

WARNING: Involves established fictional characters, which may or may not fit within the reader's preconception about said characters.

DISCLAIMER: Relevant characters and source materials belong to their respective copyright owners. The author lays claim to the rest. Use for non-commercial purposes only.

* * *

**Prologue**

_Every once in a while, Fuyuki City is the host of an epic yet dangerous event: The War for the Holy Grail._

_In this war, seven mages risk their lives in order to get the legendary chalice that's said to be able to make any wish come true. Said mages are called masters, and each of them fight along-side one of the seven noble spirits of legendary heroes known as servants who will protect them and fight for them until the end._

_One and a half year ago, this war unleashed itself in the city, involving yet again seven competent sorcerers along with their servants. After a continuous battle, the Holy Grail was destroyed, ending the war forever._

_And that's how Fuyuki City became what it used to be once more. No longer has the news show mysterious accidents or damaged buildings; the citizens gained their confidence back and the remainder masters of the last war continued with their normal lives._

_But there is one particular young master who wasn't able to settle his life back as it used to be._

- - -

**Turning back the pendulum  
Chapter I** – A mysterious dream

-."_You don't really know how important something is to you until you lose it_".-

-

Today Shirou was late on his way back home after a long period at school and work. It has been a particularly tiresome day for the red-haired teen and his body was crying for a well deserved rest.

When he arrived at the Emiya residence, his younger friend Matou Sakura was already making dinner. She has light purple hair and dark violet eyes. Shirou smiled sadly at the sight of her; she have been coming to cook for him almost every day for more than a year, claiming that she liked it and paying no heed to his attempts to make her stop. She was the baby sister of his childhood friend Shinji who, like him, was one of the masters who fought in the last war but unfortunately, died in the process.

"Oh! Good evening Senpai, the dinner will take a little while, I just started, hope you don't mind…" She said shyly.

"Hi Sakura," He greeted her cheerfully, successfully covering up his sore mood. "And nah, I don't mind." He put his bag on a chair before excusing himself and going to take a hot shower. After dressing, he thought about going to the warehouse for a while; he always went there when he wanted to think things through.

He walked automatically to his destination and turned on the lights when he was finally inside.

Unlike other magi, who were good at magic and enchants, Shirou has the unusual ability of tracing things. He could transform raw metal into a fine stove or even create a sword from thin air. But even with this great ability, ever since the end of the Holy Grail he hasn't traced anything besides weapons, it was as if he had forgotten how to trace anything else.

Closing his eyes and concentrating, a sharp and Celtic looking blade formed in his hands impeccably. He grabbed it firmly and gave it a few swings with improved dexterity he picked over time and after finishing his normal training routine he made it vanish and sat on his work chair.

He frowned; mad, because once again he had failed. Even though he promised that he would move on, even though he swore that he wouldn't dwell in the past, even though… He couldn't forget what happened half a year ago, but mainly, he couldn't forget about_ her_. He growled loudly, banging his head lightly against the window again and again.

All he could think about was his former servant, Saber. She was the heroic soul of the legendary King Arthur, hero of heroes and despite popular belief, a woman. Shirou knew now that he probably loved her since the first moment he laid his eyes on her, but fate, been as cruel as it is, took her away from him forever by the end of the war.

He found himself blaming Saber; blaming her for always being on his mind, for giving him this feeling of solitude and longing. He instantly squashed the idea and felt horribly ashamed that he thought of it in the first place. But how could he forget her after she said that she loved him before disappearing? She knew he loved her too but still… He wanted to show her how much he truly did…

He found it incredible that, even though they knew each other for not more than a few days, she managed to get the largest room in his heart.

Sighing heavily he looked outside his window towards the night sky for a while. Closing his eyes, he rested his head against the wall, long bangs covering his eyes slightly as he let the memories of the war he once fought doze him off.

- - -

"…_ya Shirou…" _

_Where am I?_

"_Emiya Shirou…" _

_Who are you?_

"_That's of no importance. Listen to…me"_

_What's goin-?_

"_You must find a way to go back… b..ti…me, help...Artu…"_

_What?_

"_The flow…o… f… time… must… be… loo…k… for a way…"_

_Wait! I don't get what you're saying!_

"_Emi…ya….Shirou… wake up."_

"Wake up!"

"W-What?" He exclaimed, opening one eye, but before anything came to clear view someone slapped his head. "H-hey! What was that for?! I'm awake! Geez…"

"You were dozing off again, Shirou! Dinner's ready and I'm hungry so move your lazy butt!" An angry and hungry Taiga shouted.

Fujimura Taiga was Shirou's homeroom class teacher but she was more like a big sister to him. He knew her for as long as he can remember and she frequently visited and stayed for dinner.

The teen frowned slightly, confused. He rubbed his sore eyes. "Was it… just a dream?"

"Come again?"

"Nothing, let's go, I'm kinda hungry too." He said, faking a smile.

- - -

As always, the enthusiastic teacher was eating her heart out.

With young Illyasviel gone, there was no one left to steal her food and the times at the table were a lot more peaceful. Shirou smiled at the thought of the little brat; she was one of the masters who fought at the war and even though she tried to kill him in the past, she quickly became a treasured friend.

"Seriously Shirou, you need a haircut! Your hair is getting over your eyes already." Taiga pointed out once again, making Shirou frown, but he didn't said anything. "And what's wrong with you anyways? You are so oddly quiet… not that you were the conversational type either..." Shirou just shrugged his shoulders as she took a rather large portion of rice and suddenly pointed her chopsticks at him, "You used to tell sister Taiga everything! Oh! What happened to my old-little-good-cute-brother?!" She exclaimed melodramatically.

Sakura smiled nervously and sweat dropped while Shirou glared at her, "It's bad manners to point at people…" Taiga ignored him and changed the subject to some random babble about a Japanese football team. Shirou sighed and resumed eating quietly.

After clearing the table, both females said their good-byes and went back to their respective homes, leaving the former master alone to muse over his dream.

That was definitely not a normal dream, he was sure there was something special about it. The voice he heard was so familiar… but he couldn't recall.

Getting the dishes on the larder, he gave his dream more thought. Whoever that was, he needed help and he wanted Shirou to go to the past but, to what time exactly?

When he was done in the kitchen, he sat down on the wooden floor at the dining room and meditated more, replaying the dream like an old film until an idea popped up in his mind.

"He wanted me to go back in time to… Arturia?" He thought out loud. The idea itself was mad, impossible, maybe even absurd, but it filled his pained heart with a tiny shine of hope that made him feel ten times better. The stranger had even said something that sounded like Saber's name!

But it was just impossible, right?

- - -

Next morning, Shirou was determined to ask Tohsaka, a close friend and former master, about a way to travel through time. After all, she was the most powerful magus he knew. She was a beautiful black-haired girl with sharp blue-green eyes that has every guy at school ogling for her. And how he was going to bring up the news to her, he has no clue.

"Tohsaka," Shirou called out at the school gates, pacing next to the black-haired girl casually.

"Oh, hello Shirou." She replied, a smug smile gracing her features. Some students looked at them weirdly, still not used to see one of the idols of the school talking to someone as random as him.

"I…" He started but paused, not really knowing what to say.

"You…?"

"I-need to talk to you, can you come to my place after school?"

He noticed her gaze fixed upon him, obviously trying to read his thoughts. "Hmm, sure…" Keeping his face expressionless he quickly nodded and attempted to walk away. "Shirou," She called out, grabbing his arm before he was out of reach, "is there something wrong?" She got closer to him and gave him a serious and mysterious look.

"No. See you later." He simply responded, this time with an underlying hint of nervousness.

"All right, later then." And with that, she walked away. He sighed in relief.

"When will you stop talking to that freaky woman?" Someone asked behind him.

"Wha-?" Shirou turned around and smiled at his good friend and school body president, Issei Ryudou. "Oh, hey there Issei. Why don't you get to know her better? You'll see she's not that bad-"

"And get diseased like you? No thanks." Shirou laughed at his joke and they began to walk inside the building.

"Say, Issei," Shirou started while they walked. The blue-haired teen looked up and pushed up his glasses to show he was listening, "What do you think could happen if someone travels to the past?"

Issei looked at him confused, obviously not expecting the question; he brought his hand to his chin in a contemplating manner, "Hmm, well, I really haven't thought much about that before but, hmm, maybe if that person starts to change things of the past that'd create a time paradox, right?"

The red-haired teen lowered his head a little. He was expecting as much, "Yeah, I guess that's what'd happen."

- - -

The school period had come and gone. Shirou didn't pay attention to what the teachers were saying, even though they were all talking about the oncoming final exams. His mind was somewhere else even when Taiga hit him squarely in the face with the blackboard eraser; thoughts of his dream and Tohsaka's reaction to his request invading his already worked up mind.

As he waited for the raven-haired girl outside the school gates, he wondered about all the possible outcomes the future conversation could bring about, but he soon dismissed them as said girl walked towards him.

She stared him right in the eyes, her green-blue eyes piercing his brown ones, and Shirou wondered if she could actually read minds. He quickly diverted his gaze to see an interesting light post. "Well, let's go." Rin didn't reply; instead, she just followed him until they reached his house without saying a word, her expression unreadable.

Today Sakura has archery practice and Fujimura has to start working with the final exams so they wouldn't be coming, leaving Shirou and Rin alone. How convenient, he thought as he opened the front door. "I'll make some tea." He announced, throwing his bag at a corner and walking towards the kitchen.

Rin sat down in the dining room silently, a rare threat, he noticed nervously.

The time alone put his mind to work on how he was going to start the conversation. Should he just ask for a way to travel through time? Or should he tell her about his dream? Or maybe he shouldn't say anything all together and forget that this ever happened. He sighed in frustration, getting burned in the process. He hissed and set the cups on a trail before making his entrance at the dining room. "Here's your tea."

She took the tea cup and put a mint-flavored teabag inside. "What do you want to talk about?" She asked; her tone as serious as her gaze.

Shirou took a heavy breath, "W-well, you see…" The girl raised a fine eye brow impatiently. "I wanted to ask you if you know for a way…" He paused, deciding to look at her. "…to travel through time."

Rin blinked twice, "What?"

"Do you know a magical way to travel through time? To the past to be precise." He asked again, faster this time. Even though his voice was firm and his eyes were honest, Shirou was feeling awkward asking her that.

"Is this… about Saber?"

His eyes widened slightly, "No, well… not exactly, but yeah, she might be involved." He blurted out, looking away.

"I thought you told me you were going to move on-"

"I know!" He yelled, a bit louder than he intended to, "I'm sorry, is just that… well, I just-can't." He confessed for the first time in one and a half year. "But it's not just about her. I… miss the thrill of the fights, the sensation of having to protect someone or just the fact that I could be useful in something big… I know it sounds stupid but that's how I feel."

His companion seemed startled at his first outburst but relaxed when she saw his pained expression. He seemed to relax slightly after that and suddenly remembered the other motive for this conversation, "But that's not the whole reason. I had a dream…" He explained, telling her what he dreamed and what he thought about it.

She stared at him for a while, not really looking at him as she was deep in thought. She took her cup of tea and swallowed the remaining content, continuing the conversation, "I can't believe this," She finally said, a smile forming on her pretty face. Shirou raised an eyebrow, "I had a dream yesterday too," She continued, her fingers playing with the already used teabag, "A voice told me to help you with some request…" Shirou's eyes widened, "I didn't paid attention to it though, even if I don't dream a lot I don't usually let one simple dream get into me but, now that you're telling me this..."

Shirou's heart caught up in his throat, a bit of excitement glinting in his deep brown eyes, "So…"

"Well, there is one way to travel through time but, I have never tried it and it's pretty damn difficult-"

"So you are going to help me?"

"I'm not sure if I should help you or not. This could be a coincidence, or even worse: a trap."

Suddenly he seemed out of words, he hasn't thought about all this been a trap.

"Listen Shirou, not a lot of wizards have the ability to communicate through dreams, only the most powerful magus or those born with the gift are able to do so."

"There's something… something is telling me to trust that voice, it sounded familiar somehow. I know I've heard it before."

"You can't trust someone just because it sounds familiar. Even if you do go back in time, that person didn't specify to what time exactly."

"I'm sure he wanted me to go to Saber's- to Arturia's time." He retorted with conviction.

Rin shook her head disapprovingly. "How can you be so sure about that?"

He looked away, not sure of how to put it in words. "I don't know. He said something that sounded like Saber's name but I didn't hear it completely. Besides, I can't ignore someone who's obviously asking for help." He replied in a low tone, looking at his hands.

A heavy sigh was heard at the other side of the table, making him look up. "You never change, do you?" She startled him a bit when she suddenly stood up, "If you are so sure about this, then who am I to deny you?" She said smiling at him mockingly, he smiled back, grateful that she was going to help him once more. "But I warn you: messing with time is a lot more complicated than it sounds, furthermore, for me to be able to send you to exactly the time you are asking for will be difficult and dangerous." She suddenly looked disturbed.

"Don't worry, Rin." He called, using her first name, "I'll make sure I don't mess up. As for the other problem, I trust you'll send me to the right time, after all, you are the best magus I've ever known." He finished, a genuine and reassuring smile adorning his face.

Rin looked back at him, lips slightly parted and a dumbfounded expression on her face and after a few seconds she burst out laughing, causing the red-haired boy to frown.

When the laughter finally died down, she whipped some tears away from her eyes and said, "Flattery won't take you anywhere, you know? And you are terrible at convincing… but all right, we'll do it your way. I'll need some time to prepare everything, in the meantime, make sure you are ready. Finish anything you have to in this time plane since maybe… you won't come back, understood?"

He gasped softly, but did not let his determination slip away. "I understand, thank you, Rin."

- - -

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

Hope you liked it :) Next chapter will be uploaded soon, till then~

-Arkueid


	2. The Dawn of Departure

Thanks to everyone that reviewed or simply read this, I am trully grateful that you liked it. Special thanks to gmsephiroth and Yuleen.

WARNING: Involves established fictional characters, which may or may not fit within the reader's preconception about said characters.

DISCLAIMER: Relevant characters and source materials belong to their respective copyright owners. The author lays claim to the rest. Use for non-commercial purposes only.

* * *

**Turning back the pendulum  
Chapter II – **The Dawn of Departure

_-."I can't change the direction the wind blows, but I can adjust  
my sail to always arrive at my destiny._".- James Dean

-

It was a normal and peaceful Sunday morning at the Emiya residence. The birds outside were chirping happily and the sunshine began to fill the almost empty house. It wasn't until the bright rays hit his face that the young tracer woke up.

He opened his deep brown eyes and yawned lazily. Standing up, he went to do his normal morning routines before heating up some leftovers from the day before in the microwave. He ate in silence and thought about everything that had happened that week.

It's been more than a month since he last talked to Rin about his dream and the time travel idea. In that time, Shirou made sure everything was left in order before going on his little adventure. Rin spread the news about him going to England to study business and that he would most likely stay to live there. He had refused to take part of the lie at first but after been asked by his classmates he knew that he couldn't really tell them the truth, so he played along.

Fujimura and Sakura were another story. He talked to the older woman after he had finished his last exam, asking her if he could talk to her at the park after the end of the day. He remembered that day perfectly.

_- - -_

_The sun was already setting, giving the whole park a mysterious glow that reminded Shirou of his fight with Rider, which already seemed so long ago._

"…_And really! I can't believe you didn't tell me before that you were going to England!" Taiga exclaimed. She had been talking about his 'plans' the whole walk, asking questions and making jokes. The young man commented just when necessary, but overall, remained silent._

_They reached a deserted part of the park and sat on a bench. "But anyways, did you want to talk about something?"_

_Shirou exhaled, "It's… kinda hard to explain actually… I think I'll start by telling you the whole thing from the beginning…" And he told her about how he became a master and how he fought in the War for the Holy Grail. She listened to him carefully, not interrupting him, her expression so neutral that Shirou was starting to get second thoughts about telling her where he was going. "…and that's all that happened."_

_She didn't speak for a while, looking at him closely to see if it was all a joke, but his expression told her otherwise. "Why are you telling me this now, Shirou?"_

"_You see… I'm not actually going to England like everyone thinks. The other day I had a dream; a voice told me to go to the past to help Arthur, and as I told you, Saber is Arthur and I just can't ignore this, so I asked Tohsaka what she thought about the matter and she told me she had a dream too, but in her dream the stranger told her to help me, so she agreed to help me and right now she's preparing everything for me to be able to travel to the past and help Saber out." He explained quickly and he hoped she got all that because he had a hard time putting it together._

"_WHAT?!" She exclaimed loudly, standing up from the bench they were sitting on. Her face was as red as a tomato and Shirou could have sworn he saw smoke coming out her body. _

_He slid a little further from her in the bench. "ABSOLUTELY NOT! You are not going alone to who knows where after just having a stupid dream! ARE YOU CRAZY SHIROU!? Is traveling through time even possible?!" All she was saying sounded so true._

_The tracer shifted his eyes to the side,"I...you see... hmm... well,"_ _He continued to release a nonsensical string of babble for several seconds as the teacher looked at him sternly._

_Taiga exhaled and glared at him, "I knew it, you don't even know what you want. You can't affort such a great risk for just_ some girl."_ She spat the words out like poison._

_And as if a spell was casted on him, Shirou's fear and insecurities were replaced by anger. He stood up and stared at her straight on, "She is not just some girl! She's… very important to me. You don't know all the things we went through!" He exclaimed, leaving Fujimura speechless at his sudden outburst, not used to see him like this. "Please Fuji-nee…" He pleaded in a lower and pained tone, "Understand… I must do this, if I don't… I will be asking myself 'what if I had done it' for the rest of my life."_

_She looked at him for a while longer, her bottom lip standing out in a deep scowl. "It's too dangerous. What if you are not even sent to the right time? What if that dream is just a coincidence after all?"_

"_I already had the dream three times in less than a month; I don't think it's a coincidence." He replied more sharply than he intended to, avoiding the first question._

"_But it's still too dangerous to go alone Shirou! Tohsaka is just a girl, she can't actually be able to do something like that." She winced, still pouting._

_He put a hand on her shoulder, "Listen, I _must_ do this. I can't sit here doing nothing and not listen to my heart. I trust in Tohsaka, I know she'll find the way."_

_She looked away from his eyes, "But… you can go to a well known college and…-"_

_He shook his head slowly and gave her a tender look, "Thank you, for always worrying about me Fuji-nee, you are really like a sister to me but… my place is not here anymore, please understand."_

_He felt her tremble slightly, "I... I don't want to... I don't want to lose my little brother..." She whispered with her eyes downcast. He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly._

"_Sorry that I have to leave you..."_

_She trembled under his touch and shook her head, "No, I... You can't leave. I'm your guardian! I have to look after you!"_

_Shirou watched her and with determination he said, "I made my decision."_

_She wiped some tears away, "I… all right… If this is something you are sure you must do then I won't stop you, I'll support you even for the little time you have left here. But if you die there, I'll kill you!"_

_He laughed at her joke, hugged her like a brother would hug a sister and whispered a low "Thank you."_

_The teacher broke their embrace a bit and looked at him, "By the way... Don't you even think that you'll get away without answering me some questions about that Holy Grail war thing." She finished, giving his chest a soft poke._

_Shirou chuckled nerveously and sweat dropped.  
_

_- - -_

Now that he thought about it, she took it pretty well. She didn't even ask him why he didn't tell her about the war before, although she said that she knew something was odd and the only troublesome part was that he spent at least two hours answering her questions.

After their conversation, the next days passed like bliss; the results of the exams were out and he was glad that at least he could leave as a high school graduate.

All the seniors were hosting parties and little meetings every day and Shirou went to a few of them, enjoying himself at the fullest.

It was after the end of the last meeting that he decided to talk to Sakura about where he was going. He invited her to the last party, which was the graduation official's and she happily accepted the invitation.

- - -

_The party was nice and they were having a good time talking and joking with everyone else but when some people began to leave Shirou used the opportunity to ask her if she wanted to take a walk. She agreed and they stepped out into the night streets. _

_He had to admit that she looked beautiful in her light blue dress and her high heels; her hair was in her normal fashion and she had applied some light make up. _

_They walked in silence for fifteen minutes until they reached a hill that oversaw part of the city. He sat down in the grass and motioned her to do the same. "I want to tell you something important." He started after she sat beside him._

_She looked at him innocently, tilting her head to the left slightly, "What is it, Senpai?"_

_Explaining everything to her wouldn't be as hard as it was to Taiga, after all, Sakura knew about the Holy Grail and everything that had happened seeing that she was somehow involved. She even had been taken hostage at some point of it, leaving Rin, Saber and himself to rescue her. He shook the memories away and took a deep breath, "I am not going to England like everyone thinks… well, yes, I'm going to England, but not the one everyone knows." He babbled._

_She looked at him with confusion, "What do you mean…?"_

"_What I mean is… I had this dream…" He told her about the dream and his agreement with Rin but didn't mention anything about his desire to see his servant again. "… and that's why I'm going to the past soon."_

"_Is this about… Saber?" She asked in her timid way, her eyes casted to the ground. Was he really so predictable?_

"_W-what? No, well, not entirely, I mean, I'm going because of the dream I had and-"_

"_You don't have to hide the truth from me, Senpai, you are a terrible liar…" She interrupted, looking at him with watery eyes._

_Shirou frowned, sad to see her like this. Even if he was dense, he knew about his younger companion's affection towards him, that's why he thought it'll be fair to let her know the truth. "I'm sorry, Sakura."_

"_You don't have to apologize, you are just following your heart… like you always do… that's the reason why… the reason…" And she started sobbing uncontrollably. Shirou's heart sank at the sight, even if he didn't return her feelings he still cared a lot about her as a friend. _

_Not knowing what else to do, he quickly hugged her and rubbed her back with his right hand to calm her down. "I'm really sorry, Sakura…" He felt her cry harder against his chest as she held his shirt in a firm grip. He continued to hold her like this for a while longer, not saying a word until she calmed down._

_She backed away from him looking dreadful, her makeup messed up, "I am such an idiot…"_

"_Of course you are not! You are a very good person! You always went to my house and helped me with the chores, cooked for me and-"_

"_Because I'm in love with you!" She shouted exasperated. Shirou mouth was half open but no sound came out. She sobbed a little bit more, averting her eyes again. "But I know…" She started again, still not looking at him, "I know that you don't love me like I love you. I've known for so long… but still I…I…" Shirou put a hand on her head and stroke her hair._

"_Please don't say any more, Sakura…"_

_She looked at his apologetic eyes for a moment and then chuckled a little, "You are so kind, Senpai. This has to be awful for you, I'm sorry."_

_Shirou shook his head, "Nothing to be sorry about." And he smiled a little too._

"_I… guess I won't be seeing you again?"_

"_I can't say that for sure but, I won't deny that you probably won't." He looked away with a sad expression._

"_I understand…" She whispered, sniffing a bit. It broke his heart, but he already made his decision. "I'll never forget you… Shirou." She said in a calmer and firm tone._

_Shirou looked at her surprised but smiled, "I won't forget you either, Sakura."_

_- - -_

That has been a sad night. It was hard to leave the people he cared about but he didn't want to start regretting his decision so soon. Even if he didn't see them again, he would never forget them, they were part of him, and that will never change even if he went back a million years to the past.

As for the other people, although he is friendly he didn't have too many close friends, so he didn't need to tell anyone else the truth. Everyone was convinced that he was going to England, some of them even wanted to throw a farewell party for him, which he declined; he didn't really like farewells.

But what was making him worry the most was that he hasn't talked to Rin much that month. Every time he asked her when everything would be ready she shooed him away saying that she will tell when the time comes and for the looks of everything the time hasn't come yet, as he was still in this time plane, heating food on a microwave and sitting in a Japanese style table. The waiting was making him anxious but he promised he'll wait so he has to be patient.

He didn't have anything planned for that day so he decided that he would relax in the house, clean it a bit maybe. He sighed; he knew that he will need all the rest he could get before going on his quest. He didn't want to be unprepared if Rin suddenly popped in and tell him that everything is ready.

So the rest of the day he stayed in the house doing chores, sleeping extra hours, looking at some medieval books he borrowed from Issei that he already knew back and forward and slacking off for a change. The day moved on and before he knew it, it was dark outside. He yawned after cleaning the dishes and putting them in place. He took a glance at the clock; it marked 8:27PM.

He sat down in the living room and started reading one illustrated medieval book. He was so engulfed in it that he jumped when he heard the doorbell.

Asking himself who could be looking for him at this hour, he went to open the door. A black-haired girl smirked at him at the other side of it.

"Rin!" He exclaimed, not hiding his surprise. "I wasn't expecting you."

The mage prodigy frowned. "So you were expecting someone else?"

"What?" He looked at her confused, "Of course not, come in."

"No, I want you to come to my house. It is time." She replied in a serious tone.

"Huh? Really? Now?" He asked her with a bit of excitement. Good thing he slept extra hours today. She looked at him incredulously and nodded, "Can you wait for me? I have to get my stuff." She nodded again and waited for him outside. After a little while, he gathered everything he was taking, which wasn't much and took a last glance at his enormous house, "Father, good bye..." He whispered to the portrait of his foster father, Emiya Kiritsugu and then he closed the various doors and walked out. "All right, I'm ready."

"Did you… finish everything you had to do?" She asked looking at him.

He nodded, "I told Fuji-nee what to do with all that is left in the house."

"What about saying goodbye?"

"I did that too…" He said with a hint of sadness.

"What about Sakura?" She asked this in a low and pained tone. Shirou discovered not so long ago that Sakura is Rin's sister, it was a shock but it solved the puzzle between the two girls' connection.

"She… understood."

"That's… good, I guess." She looked around uncomfortably, "Well, let's go then."

_- - -_

When they arrived at her house, Shirou didn't know what to expect. He had no idea how this was going to work. He noticed on his way to her house that Rin wasn't in her normal shape; dark circles had formed around her eyes, probably from the lack of sleep, her hair was a little messy and she was a little… thinner? How so many flaws were obvious in such little time was beyond him, maybe it was because she was always gorgeous, who knows.

"Follow me." She told him when they were inside. He followed her down the stairs to the basement.

After she opened the door with a key, they walked in and as Shirou tried to take a peek inside she closed the door, getting rid of the little light that was coming from upstairs and leaving the room in complete darkness. Shirou flinched a bit as he felt her grab his arm and drag him somewhere.

He walked blind for a while before she let go of his arm and told him to stay still. He heard her footsteps as he stood perfectly still, not wanting to mess up. He heard her whisper something that sounded like one of her spells and suddenly, a faint light that resembled the moon's filled the room and Shirou's eyes widened at what he saw.

The whole room was empty but at his feet a gigantic magic circle was shining, filling the room with a faint purple glow. The complexity of it was greater than anything he had seen. He noticed that inside the circle was a shape of a six tipped star, red glowing gems placed in each tip of it. Around the circle were complicated magic scriptures that he had no idea what they meant.

Shirou glanced up at Rin, "This is incredible." He told her in awe.

She smirked and stepped in the circle beside him, looking around to fix any imperfection, "Of course, what did you expect?"

"You are late, Rin." A childish voice said.

Shirou's eyes widened and a joyfull smile spreaded on his face, "Illya!"

The little girl smiled sweetly at him and ran towards him, hugging him tightly, "I missed you, onii-chan!" The tracer hugged her back and stroked her silver blonde hair affectionately.

After a few seconds they broke apart and Illya's smile was replaced by a deep scowl, "When were you planing on telling me about your little trip, huh?" She scolded him.

Shirou sweatdropped and scratched his cheek, "I'm sorry Illya, I didn't want to cause you trouble."

Illya smiled, "Well, I know it now, no harm done, right Rin?"

"Yes, whatever." Rin replied with no interest while she looked around the room.

Shirou laughed softly, "But hey, now that I think about it, what are you doing here Illya?"

The child started passing around, "Rin asked for my help." She replied simply.

The older girl growled, "Unfortunately, my powers alone are not enough to help you. That's why I asked Illyasviel to come and lend some of hers."

Illya laughed playfully, "Rin is weak, so she needed my help." Rin glared at her and Shirou sweat dropped.

"So... Why now?" The red-haired teen asked looking around the room, "Why is now a good time?"

The older female master stopped walking and sighed, "First of all, we need to have a full moon for this to work. This room's roof resembles the night sky right now, so the moon rays can fill it." Shirou looked up and gasped as he noticed for the first time that the roof was indeed like the sky, clouds and all. "Second, today's luck reading is favorable." She stepped closer, now face to face to him. "And lastly, it gave you time to settle everything, didn't it?" She gave him that know it all smirk of hers and tapped his shoulder.

He just rolled his eyes, of course she needed time too, and he knew she was just too proud to admit it. "Yeah, yeah."

"Okay, let's get ready." She ordered.

"Good luck! I'll miss you. Say hi to Saber for me." Illya said, giving Shirou one last hug and running towards a spot near one tip of the star.

He waved Illya good-bye and glanced at the black-haired girl, "So, what do you want me to do, Rin?"

"Just stay there. Oh! I almost forgot. Eat this." Rin said and she handed him a small blue gem.

He looked at her and then at the gem on his hand with a puzzle expression. "W-what?"

"Eat it. It'll help you a lot, trust me."

He looked at the gem again and gulped, slowly putting it in his mouth and swallowing it. It didn't have any taste but it made him feel weird.

"Ew..." Illya exclaimed making a disgusted face.

Rin brushed her off, "With that you'll be able to understand and speak English perfectly; the effects will start in a couple of minutes." She said simply, grabbing some more gems from a table, "Don't worry, it won't hurt." She added in a mocking tone. He glared at her but nodded.

He silently waited for her to do something for five minutes, but when she didn't move he started to wonder, "Rin?"

"I'm sorry. I… it's just that I don't know if this will work, we could really mess up." Rin said in a low tone.

Shirou frowned. He wasn't used to see her afraid of messing up and he didn't like it, "Hey, don't worry, everything will be fine, I'm sure you two won't mess up!" He tried to sound cheery, but he was feeling a fair amount of uneasiness himself and he frowned deeper when she didn't reply and looked at the floor instead, "Listen, Rin, for as long as I've known you, you haven't made a fatal mistake in the magic department even once. Trust in yourself, I trust in you. Even Illya trusts you right?"

The young master looked at him with surprise and frowned, "Eh... Yes, of course." She said without much interest.

Rin looked up at his smiling face and gave him a smile of her own. A genuine one for once.

"You are such an idiot," she said with humor and walked up to him.

Shirou looked away, faking to be upset, "Well excuse me for been such a-" He felt a couple of hands hold his face and her lips touch his cheek. He felt panic, but was too shocked to move. Rin slowly pushed back from him soon after, her trade mark smirk on. "W-wh-what was that for?!" He uttered, looking at Illya's direction nerveously, the little girl seemed ready to kill Rin at any given moment.

"A good-bye gift." She said, winking an eye at him and walking away from the circle. Shirou scowled at her lame explanation, but decided to let it slide. Seriously, sometimes, women are too complex, he thought. "Aren't you going to do something about your clothes?" She asked, interrupting his thoughts and eyeing his choice of clothing: a white shirt, brown shorts, running shoes and his school bag.

"Oh, right." He closed his eyes and changed a few components of his clothes here and there and soon enough, his shirt and shorts were changed to a simple linen shirt and leggings, his shoes were now riding leather boots and his bag was a simple linen traveling bag. "How do I look?" He asked the girls jokingly.

"You look handsome onii-chan!" Illya beamed happily.

"You look like a cosplayer." Rin retorted, laughing softly."Now, remember Shirou: Don't get too involved with the things of the past, you going there is a big change by itself, I hope you at least studied a bit about the place you are going and its culture." Shirou nodded firmly, "Right. Well then, shall we begin?" He nodded again, too nervous to utter words. "Illyasviel, get ready." The little girl gave an approving sound, closed her eyes and a red aura started to radiate from her body while she murmured something lowly.

"Anfang einer neuen Reise." Rin began chanting. Shirou closed his eyes, hoping with all his soul that this would work. "Eine Reise das geschehen vorher. Führen diese Seele." By now, he knew the whole room was glowing and he could hear a high pitch sound. "Tapferkeit, Liebe und Krieg." The ground started shaking. "Heute sie geöffnet es von neuem." She finished with a shout.

Suddenly and very unexpectedly, he felt as if a rope was wrapped tightly around his waist and someone gave it a strong pull, knocking the air out of him. He opened his eyes widely at the pressure he felt. In one second he saw a glimpse of Rin falling on her knees and Illya passing out, a second later they were so tiny that he couldn't even tell them apart, then a lot of colors passed by his eyes at such speed that he had to shut them again. He couldn't move an inch and his whole body was tense.

And he prayed, prayed to every God he knew that he could make it out this strange experience in one piece. He prayed that he could land in the right place. And most of all, he prayed that he could see Saber again.

- - -

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

Rin's chanting: Beginning of a new journey. A journey that happened before. Guide this soul. Bravery, love and war. They open it anew.

And that's that. Next chapter will be uploaded soon and that's where the real story begins :) stay tunned.

-Arkueid


	3. Into the Furnace of War

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, +alert, +fav or simply read it, you made my day :) Special thanks to gmsephiroth and Yuleen.

WARNING: Involves established fictional characters, which may or may not fit within the reader's preconception about said characters.

DISCLAIMER: Relevant characters and source materials belong to their respective copyright owners. The author lays claim to the rest. Use for non-commercial purposes only.

* * *

**Turning back the pendulum  
Chapter III – **Into the Furnace of War

_-."Men are like sapphires, some of them shine for themselves, and others shine  
with the light they receive._".- José Marti

-

Shirou's feet hit solid ground again. His forehead was throbbing and he was feeling awfully dizzy. Shaking his head and contending against the urge to throw up, he tried to adjust his vision to his surroundings, the sun's rays blinding him as he did so.

By the way the sun burned his skin, he noticed that it should be around noon and he had landed in some kind of high cliff. Said cliff seemed deserted, its green vegetation giving it an air of tranquility. The warm wind was hitting his face hard, bringing with it a funny, yet familiar smell.

The smell of blood.

Very suddenly, loud clashing of swords could be heard followed by battle cries, thousands of them. He tilted his head slowly to the edge of the cliff forgetting his dizziness and his chocolate eyes widened at the scene below.

Not too far away a war was breaking loose; thousand of men were killing each other without remorse. Shirou had only seen something like this in movies, it seemed awesome at those times but now… it looked horrible, not heroic or amazing at all, it was just a big massacre and the men fighting seemed like raging beasts. His eyes scanned a big portion of the battle and he had to divert his gaze elsewhere when a warrior cut an opposite team's head off.

The deadly sight of it was making Shirou's stomach turn again. He closed his eyes tightly and backed off a little, sitting down and breathing in and out. The screams and clashes were faint after a while.

_The battle is probably settling down on this side,_ he mused.

"BORS, HURRY, ARTHUR'S SIDE NEEDS HELP!" At the sound of _that_ name the young time traveler's eyes widened and he stood up and watched as the team with blue flags engraved with what he now recognized as Saber's coat of arms started to run to the left side of the battle field where the fight was far from over.

His first thought was one of joy; if his assumptions were true then he had successfully come to Saber's time.

_Wow, Rin and Illya really did it!_ He thought with admiration.

"MOVE IT MEN!" A knight on a horse shouted and immediately a dozen of soldiers followed him.

Shirou completely ignored the fact that he understood perfectly what the guy shouted; knowing by now that Rin's translation gem was taking effect. He looked around for a way to follow them, trying not to look at the bloody corpses only a few meters away from him.

Finally, he found a narrow path that lead to where the warriors had ran to. He made a dash to it and began to go down to the battlefield as fast as he could without been spotted.

Down in this part of the cliff, the ground wasn't as grassy and the wind not as hard. The lack of wind just helped the sickening smell get stronger.

Discarting such thoughts, he continued his hasted descent and when he was near a new battle area he saw the knight on the horse from before fighting fiercely against two silver armored and green clothed spearmans. Shirou tried to get closer and almost tripped with a dead body. He took a look at the fallen warrior at his feet, who's chest has been pierced, then at the knight on the horse and an idea came up to his mind. Concentrating, he kneeled down beside the dead man and placed a hand on his armor, recognizing the components of it with his tracing abilities.

After a couple of minutes he made an identical silver and blue armor. It fitted perfectly and, thanks to him changing some components, felt lighter than it should have. The red-haired teen smiled a bit, proud of himself and without giving it much thought stuffed his bag inside his chest armor, took a deep breath, traced Archer's swords, Kanshou and Bakuya and dashed toward the fight.

The moment he stepped in view, one swordsman charged at him, his blade high above his head.

"Great," Shirou murmured under his breath. He parried his opponent sword with Kanshou and dealt a blow on his head with Bakuya's handle, successfully knocking him down, and his eyes went wide as he heard two more men charging at his back. Turning around quickly, he stopped both swords with his own and with all his strength, pushed them back. After horizontal slashing one of them at an arm and managing to make him throw off his sword, he kicked the other with all his might, making him fall to the ground where another soldier dealt the finishing blow. He tried to use this opportunity to turn around in hope of reaching the battle ahead but when he did, a warrior had already charged at him, his sword too close for him to parry.

He shut his eyes and waited for the inevitable pain. But after a minor pause in which the sword never made contact, he opened his eyes and saw how his enemy froze and then fell to the ground. The tracer stood in shock as the defeated man began to tint the ground with crimson blood. His savior turned around briefly to see if he was unharmed and Shirou caught a glimpse of his sharp sapphire eyes and long brown hair under his helm before the man ran towards the battle in front of him, slashing any adversary that crossed his path.

He heard a battle cry at his back; the man he cut in the arm earlier was about to attack him but before he could block it he heard him scream in agony. Another fighter was piercing his enemy in the chest as if it was nothing, not even looking at him and running off to kill other foes.

Shirou stood still, his eyes as wide as they could, adrenaline running through his veins. But although he was shaken by his recent experience, with a shook of his head, his coherent side snapped his body out of his stunned state and he rushed behind the skillful long haired knight and helped him clear the way without killing anyone.

He knew he was not ready for this kind of situations and he cursed his luck for making him arrive at such troublesome location.

To reach the center of the fight he had to dodge and parry, sometimes slash arms and legs or simply stun his enemies with kicks and punches; he didn't make it untouched though. Even if he had received sword injuries before, some of them a lot worse than this, mind you, he didn't think he could ever get used to it; so when two of his attackers managed to cut him at his left arm upper part and at his right leg, he yelped in pain. Luckily, his companion saved him around three more times.

When they finally were able to defeat around five more enemies, Shirou had to contain the urge to face-palm himself. At the center of the commotion were even more foes. At least thirty of them were surrounding a small group of blue clothed warriors that was reducing slowly. And that's when, above the clashing, screams and shouts, Shirou heard a feminine battle cry and time seemed to stop.

Taking a deep breath and with renewed determination, he kicked and slashed the enemies that were slowly clasping the group and managed to break through until he saw her.

He hold his breath as his senses took in everything about her. His weak human's memories were_ not_ making her justice.

Her smooth golden hair, messily up in her usual braided bun moved faintly against the whispers of the wind and piercing emerald eyes were scanning her opponents like a hawk, as if daring them to come closer. Her armor was the same she had while she was his servant and she was clutching a weapon she only used to ultimately finish off her enemies: the Holy Sword, Excalibur.

Saber... no, Arturia was _really_ in front of him.

He would have jumped in joy if he wasn't limping like a street dog. And for a moment he almost sighed, thinking she was unharmed until he saw her left shoulder covered in her own crimson blood and a slight pained expression on her face.

He was so mesmerized to see her there that he didn't completely dodge a blade that swung dangerously close to his head, managing to scratch his nose. After kicking his attacker away with his good leg, he quickly stepped next to Saber, raising both swords and feeling a bit happy even at this situation.

"I came to help… Your majesty." He whispered fondly, high enough for her to hear while a grin spreaded on his dirty face. He knew she didn't know who he was, but he didn't care much either, as long as he was with her.

She eyed him for a second, her expression unchanged and nodded.

"CHARGE!!" She shouted, advancing first at the nearest enemy with audacity and swiftness and successfully piercing his abdomen with Excalibur. The rest of the warriors roared and mimicked their leader, fighting as hard as they could.

Shirou fought too, eying Saber now and then as large number of allies started breaking through the enemy's defense and were reducing their numbers at a quick pace. And soon enough, the battle died down and an almost complete silence filled the battlefield.

The king looked around for a while, breathing hard.

"The victory…" She started, loud enough for her men to hear, "…is ours!" She finished in between breaths, raising Excalibur. Roaring shouts and cheers filled the battlefield and it seemed ironic for Shirou how everyone could cheer and celebrate in this situation. The smell of fresh blood was making him sick again and he had to look up to divert his gaze from the gore that was on the ground.

"You there," A grave voice called at his back above the cheers. He turned around and saw the man who saved his life before, sky blue eyes now more clear with his helm off, "Just who might you be?" He asked plainly, his tone inquisitive and sharp. His armor was silver like everyone else's but the material used to craft it seemed finer and better polished than the rest.

Shirou's only guess was that this man was very important.

"Pardon?" He answered, faking surprise.

"I requested your identity. It is the first time I see you and you are carrying two swords that are unlike anything I have seen." He stated, getting closer and narrowing his eyes. He was young, maybe six or eight years older than him. The red-haired tracer looked down at his Chinese falchions, mentally cursing himself for being so reckless and squeezed his brain for possible solutions. "Well?"

Taking a deep breath he said, "I'm Sh-Shin."

_Shin?_ _What kind of Old English name is that?! _He reproched himself mentally.

The knight raised an eyebrow, and asked impatiently, "Shin from where?"

"From Britons." He lied, saying the name of a city he had seen in a book.

"Oh, and how come you have those swords Shin from Britons?"

"I'm a blacksmith," he tried to sound casual, after all, he _is _some kind of blacksmith, "These swords are something I've been working on."

The young knight watched him closely, not believing him completely, "Is that so? Then tell me, why did I not see you before?"

"Huh…" Shirou uttered looking elsewhere, "Well you see…"

"Ah! There you are lad," a tall, gray-haired old man interrupted, walking towards the knight. His armor was exactly the same as the other knight's and he was holding his helm bellow his right arm.

"Sir Ywain, this man is probably a spy; I have never seen him before." The young knight said, still eyeing Shirou with distrust.

"Aye, I have never seen him before either," he replied calmly, "But let us interrogate this kid later; we have bigger problems to worry about." He added with a serious tone, monitoring the brown haired swordsman to follow him somewhere. Said swordsman didn't budge, making the old man sigh. Shaking his head disapprovingly, he glanced at Shirou instead, "You promise you will not try anything funny, lad?"

Shirou nodded slowly, "Yes my lord, I promise."

"You heard him, Lancelot. He promised, now, let us go." The young tracer's eyes widened when the old man said the knight's name and watched him with his mouth half open.

Lancelot stared at Ywain in disbelief, but after a little while he clicked his tongue and walked away.

Shirou sighed when they left, and his eyes instantly searched for Arturia. He spotted her giving a few orders to a couple of warriors and spaced out again, taking in her sight. Watching her was like been in a dream, a bloody and painful one, but still enjoyable. Unfortunately he was kicked out of his daydreaming when she followed the two knights he encountered behind a big boulder.

He sneaked behind the rock carefully, noticing other knights arriving to the little meeting. Casually, he leant against the boulder, opened his bag and started putting some bandages around his upper arm injure while he eavesdropped their conversation.

"…Can we not talk about this later, my king? Someone can overhear us." Shirou heard a voice said and by the way it sounded, he seemed to know he was listening. He gulped.

"That does not matter sir Gawain, everyone will know sooner or later." A silence followed after the king spoke in her commanding tone, "I have grave news: I do not have it anymore. Avalon is gone." Gasps and whispers followed that, even Shirou had to contain his own surprise. Avalon was Arturia's scabbard, the same one he had inside of him for who knows how long before he gave it to her in the war for the Holy Grail.

"God's eyes Arthur! What do you mean it's gone?! Did someone steal it from you?"

"I do not know. I had it with me when the battle started; I believe it is impossible that it just fell off while we fought. At some point it was gone, however, I do not recall when exactly."

"But-This cannot be! If Avalon were to fall in the enemy's hands-!"

"I think we are all aware of what could happen, Bors." Shirou heard Ywain, the old man from earlier say.

"You do not actually think that the enemy has it, do you, my liege?"

"No, I do not think they do. If they did, we would probably be still fighting right now." More silence. "For now we have to be more cautious than before; I already made some of our men search for Avalon. All we can do now is pray that they find it."

Shirou recognized the next voice as Lancelot's as he said, "How can you stay so calm…? You know what will happen… now that you do not have Avalon, my king, you will surely-"

"Die, I know." Shirou's eyes widened as she said that, just thinking about her death gave him a headache, but it was just common sense, after all, Avalon was said to give King Arthur inmortality.

"But so do all of you and you have not. I just had that little advantage, now we are truly equals." She said solemnly and Shirou heard complains and more whispers. "Do not worry so much about it; I shall not die, not yet. Now, let us get going, we have much to do before returning to Camelot."

Another pause followed before he heard them all say in unison "Yes, Sire."

He quickly walked off the rock carefully to avoid being spotted and went to get his wounds treated.

After a healer cleaned up his wounds and bandaged them, he started helping carry the dead bodies. He already felt that he wanted to help and protect, it was his nature after all. He watched as a knight checked Arturia's injury before applying some herbs to it. She winced at the contact and after a little while glanced at him and he didn't have the will to look away. Her eyes were stern and curious while her face held a neutral expression. They stared at each other until someone asked him to help an injured warrior walk to the healers and he sighed, somehow dissapointed.

He eyed Lancelot now and then too and felt excited. Besides King Arthur, for obvious reasons, Lancelot was his favorite knight and he had been looking forward to seeing him with his own eyes. He watched as the young talented knight gave orders to the other warriors while helping carrying an injured guy. If what he read was true, Lancelot was a kind hearted man with a strong and honorable will, but avoiding him was the best choice; he didn't want to be asked troublesome questions for the time been.

- - -

By the end of the day, they had finished pilling up the corpses and aiding the injured. The battle had been a huge success and the soldiers were all cheering and eating by the fire. Shirou kept his distance from the groups, not wanting to attract too much attention due to his two uncommon swords which he hadn't dissipated.

After they settled down in small camps, the knight known as Gawain, the one that healed Saber's injury, approched everyone.

"I congratulate everyone again in the name of the King and the Knights of the Round Table. Surely this battle will serve as a warning for the Saxons to plot against our people no longer." Everyone cheered and gave approving comments, "Now, let us pray for the sake of our fallen comrades..."

When they were all dismissed, Shirou picked a spot next to a tall tree. He couldn't help glancing at his former servant from the corner of his eyes; she had the cold mask that he knew she used to seem strong. And it was when her eyes met his for like the fourth time that he decided to stop staring, he didn't want her to think he was stalking her or something. He almost laughed at his stupid preoccupation and went to grab some bread and water.

While he took a bite of bread he thought about the conversation he overheard and realization hit him. If Avalon was gone, then, according to all the books he read about Arthurian legends, this must be the battle of Camlann because Arthur lost Avalon before the battle… and if that's how it is then… Arturia should be dead…

Shirou's skin paled. No way. He has just changed the past by helping Saber a couple of hours ago? He arrived at the day she should have died?! But if that was the case… then everything would be changed… No, no, NO! He just screwed everything up, not that he wanted her dead but he didn't want to change anything major like this either.

He was still thinking of this when a voice called him. "Soldier," the voice said while he was deep in thought, "Oi," it continued. Still no answer, "Oi!"

"Oh! I'm sorry, I…" Suddenly he was in loss of words. Before him was Arturia, looking down at him sternly. He quickly stood up and saluted. "M-my king." He said awkwardly.

"I ask of you: Who are you?" She inquired, the same way Lancelot had earlier, circling him. The way she said it brought back so many memories...

Shaking his head, Shirou swallowed the rest of his bread dryly and looked down at her petite form.

"I'm Shin from Britons." He replied firmly as convincing as possible, trying not to grin like an idiot at her.

She glared at him, "Were you under the impression that you could sneak in without my notice?"

Shirou looked at her dumbfounded, "Huh…" Was his ingenious reply.

"Sir Lancelot already told me about you. Are you a spy from Saxon?" She asked, raising her sword straight to his throat. By now everyone was watching the scene with curiosity.

Shirou looked at her confused, "No, I'm not."

She glared at him harder, clearly not believing him. "You are a suspicious fellow. But," she continued lowering her sword, "You saved my life and for that, I am grateful," Shirou smiled and nodded, "However…" She added, looking at him coldly and making his smile disappear, "I am going to keep an eye on you until we reach Camelot, perhaps there you will give me an explanation, and I hope it is a good one, Shin from Britons."

He shivered, "I swear I will… Your majesty. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. And forgive me." He bowed lowly without taking his eyes of hers.

She gave him one last glance before walking away to the other side of the camp. Shirou sighed in relief, sat down and leant to the big tree tiredly. The crowd of curious people dispersed whispering among themselves and resumed whatever they were doing.

He yawned loudly. This has been the longest day, literally, and he has seen, heard and done too much. He tried putting in the back of his mind the disturbing images of the battle and the thoughts of his already too late major mistake and prevented the urge to trace a pillow.

Laying down and resting his head over his good arm, he closed his eyes slowly and fell asleep quickly.

That night, nightmares haunted him. Images of men dying by his hands, asking for mercy before being sliced in half by a sword plagued him. And he wished that the days to come in this new life weren't as dark as his first one and that maybe, just maybe, he would never have to take anyone's life.

- - -

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

Done! Phew... Hope I filled everyone's expectations.

**Side notes: **

1. The battle of Camlann is the last battle that King Arthur fought before his death.  
2. Lancelot, Gawain, Bors and Ywain along with other knights are all 'Knights of the Round Table', which were King Arthur's most trusted men.  
3. Avalon, as you all should know, is King Arthur's scabbard. It was said that he lost it just before the battle of Camlann and that's part of the reason he died.

Chapter 4 will be uploaded soon :) Please review!

-Arkueid


	4. Embers of Chaos

Again, thank you all for reviewing and +fav,+alert. Thank you gmsephiroth for correcting and reading this for me and for always being a constant source of info! And thanks Yuleen for always been there to hear me talk about this like crazy :D

WARNING: Involves established fictional characters, which may or may not fit within the reader's preconception about said characters.

DISCLAIMER: Relevant characters and source materials belong to their respective copyright owners. The author lays claim to the rest. Use for non-commercial purposes only.

* * *

**Turning back the pendulum  
Chapter IV – **Embers of Chaos

_-."The most important of life's battles is the one we fight daily in the  
silent chambers of the soul_." - David O. McKay

-

If Shirou could choose between walking through these godforsaken mountains and been devoured by a band of hungry wolves, he'll probably jump between the wolves and dance the Macarena while been covered in meat sauce.

It has been three days since he time traveled to the past and currently they were climbing a tall hill for what seemed like the millionth time to get to Camelot. The other men were having a difficult time too but they were not as tired as him.

His problem resides in the fact that he hasn't dissipated his fake armor and his two swords for more than a few seconds before he has to quickly trace them again. Add to all this that he had to trace a couple of scabbards too. He couldn't let them vanish for more than twenty seconds because, true to her words, Arturia have been keeping an eye on him and when she wasn't at vigilance, Lancelot was; it was a miracle that they haven't notice anything yet.

So in other words, he was having the hardest training of endurance of his life and he was seriously wondering from where all his prana was coming from. But even with all this to take care of, his mind was filled with bigger worries. For example, how he was going to explain who he was and from where he came from when they reach Camelot. Or the fact that he changed the past by saving Arturia Pendragon in the battle of Camlann the day she was supposed to die; just thinking about all the changes that could bring was driving him mad.

What if she never becomes a servant? He'd have never met her. Maybe someday all his memories of her will suddenly disappear and he wouldn't even know what he was doing at this time in the first place. He shivered at the thought and decided that he didn't care anymore if he sounded suspicious or not, he'll ask where he was or at least he'll try to find out.

"Hey, excuse me." He called a handsome blond haired young man who was taller than him but looked no more than fifteen or sixteen.

The guy looked at him, light purple eyes narrowing in surprise, "Aye?"

"Huh… I'm very bad at keeping track of where I am so, can you tell me where we are right now?"

The young man looked at him incredulously and laughed, "Are you kidding, mate?" When Shirou's expression didn't changed his smile faded, "Well, at least y'know that we were fighting at Agned Hill, yes?" He asked Shirou with humor. The red-haired teen's eyes widened and he suppressed a sigh of relief. So it wasn't the battle of Camlann after all.

He nodded and the boy who was feeling pretty good to be able to look smart continued, "O'Right then, as y'know those hills were at the Kingdom of Gododdi, so now we have to head south to get to Camelot, as usual. We should be at some place in the Celidoine country." He finished with a big smile.

"Is Camelot a lot further?" Shirou asked, wiping the sweat out of his forehead and taking a big breath before climbing a very steep rock.

The blond looked up for a moment, calculating, "I do not know, maybe five or eight days if we are lucky." He said, shrugging his shoulders. Shirou growled and cursed under his breath.

"Thank you. What's your name, by the way?" He asked while he helped the boy climb the rock.

"I am Percival, Son of the fallen King Pellinore." He responded proudly. The time traveler looked at him in disbelief. Here he was, talking to a prince, and if he wasn't wrong, Percival was the name of one of the men who found the Holy Grail. What a funny coincidence. "And you are?"

"I'm Shin from Britons, nice to meet you." Shirou nodded and smiled at him, "You are a knight of the Round Table, right?"

Percival laughed out loud, "Nai, I am not, but that is one of my goals. This was my first battle under King Arthur's command so you can say that I am a new cub." They both glanced at said King direction; she was not too far away from them, leading the group in the front and pulling from her horse's reins without breaking a sweat. "You must be pretty clueless if you do not know who is a knight of the round and who is not." He added jokingly.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Shirou said lowly, feeling stupid. The younger warrior laughed again and gave a playful nudge at his injured arm, causing him to wince.

"Oh, sorry mate!" He apologized quickly and after checking if the red-haired teen was all right, he looked up ahead, "God, finally, look!" He jumped happily and pointed forward.

Shirou took a glance to where Percival was pointing and silently thanked any God who could hear him. Just some mere kilometers from where they were, a city was visible between two mountains.

Arturia turned around to face all of them, "We have arrived to Cameliard, and hopefully we will be able to rest, eat and tend to our wounds before the night catches us. If no one has any complaints, we should be able to leave at dawn." She said looking around to see if anyone has anything to say, "Let us make haste." She finished, taking a path that wasn't as rough as the one they were walking before.

- - -

The rest of the walk wasn't as difficult as before. They arrived at the city before the sun was completely gone and Shirou would have admired the mix of colors in the sky and the way all the houses were made if he wasn't so damn tired. All he was thinking about was: eating, taking a bath and sleeping in a comfy bed.

While they walked around the city, a lot of people cheered at them, some of them even patted his shoulder and congratulated him. The city was very lively, everyone around them seemed to be busy selling their products, talking among themselves or playing around, completely at ease even when thousands died three days ago. It all made Shirou feel a little bit sour.

They went all the way to the back of the city where a big and beautiful castle stood up proudly. Shirou gasped at its majesty. The castle was just as the ones he saw on Issei's books: build at the end of the city a little higher than the rest of the buildings and made with sturdy stones with towers surrounding it. In the tip of each tower, scarlet flags with golden decorations waved in the cool breeze.

"God bless you, Arthur!" A very old looking bald man with fine purple clothing greeted Arturia when they reached the castle entrance. "It is so good to see that you made it back safely."

"It is good to see you are in good shape yourself, King Leodegrance." She replied, smiling a bit.

"Ah, always so formal! At ease!" He patted her shoulder affectionately, "But I beg you tell me how the fight was at Agned Hill. Did you suffer a lot of casualties? Did you manage to repel those filthy Saxons away from our borders?" The king asked with a curious tone.

"It was a successful fight and we did lose a few of our men but as you can see, the majority made it back." She took a short pause to look at her tired battalion, "Now, I would like to talk once we are inside. My men need shelter and food, if is not too much to ask."

"Of course it is not, lad! Come inside, come inside!" He said, dragging her away from the group and signaling the rest to wait inside. Shirou contained a chuckle at the old man's enthusiasm.

The interior of the castle was even more amazing than the exterior. The walls and the floor were made with polished marble and the furniture was very diverse; ancient jars, a very big chandelier at the ceiling, expensive picture frames and other decorations.

Shirou could swear he saw at least six servants just at the entrance.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the chance to admire the rest of the details as they were moved to a plain empty room where they had to wait for at least one hour, in which they cleaned their wounds until a servant guided them to the dining room. His expression must have been amusing because Percival laughed at him when they reached the huge table.

"This castle has two dining rooms, one for the royalty and the nobles, and another for warriors and servants. I guess this one is the warriors and servants one." He whispered lowly only for Shirou to hear. The tracer nodded and observed impatiently the banquet that was served for them; his stomach gave a loud growl making some men laugh.

"Looks like the new kid is hungry, eh?" A tall muscular brown haired knight yelled cheerfully. "Lad, com'er! You are eatin' with us!" He called loudly, signaling Shirou to sit down next to him. The tracer looked at Percival who smiled and eagerly walked with him to where they were.

On their way to the table, Shirou was about to grab a grape before Percival elbowed him on the rips and whispered, "We have to wait until King Arthur arrives." The time traveler just nodded slowly and contained a whine.

"Lancelot and Arthur think you are a spy or somethin' but I think you are an artist!" The knight exclaimed when they were near.

"W-what?" The red-haired teen exclaimed once he sat down next to him and looked around to see who kept him company. Lancelot was right in front of him with his eyes closed, to his left side was the light brown-haired man named Gawain, at the cheerful knight's right side was Ywain who smiled and waved at him and Percival sat next to him.

"Artist or not, he is suspicious." Lancelot declared crossing his arms.

"Just look at your swords." He continued, ignoring the younger knight, "Is not somethin' you see every day, and you said you made them yourself?"

"Yes, I'm a blacksmith." He answered nervously. Percival gave an approving whistle and the knight proceeded to ask Shirou a lot of question referred to forging, claiming that he liked all things that have to do with sharp objects.

"Bors, would you shut up for a minute? I am starving and your babbling is making it worse." Lancelot snapped without opening his eyes, interrupting their conversation. Bors looked at him angrily, grabbed an apple and threw it, hitting him in the side of his head. The young knight opened his eyes startled and didn't need to ask who hit him since Bors was laughing so much that the whole room was beginning to stare at them.

Lancelot smiled mischievously and grabbed another apple. "I declare war!" He exclaimed and threw the apple so fast that it didn't gave the broad man a chance to react, resulting of it hitting him squarely on the forehead. Now it was Lancelot's turn to laugh.

"Why you…" Bors exclaimed rubbing his temple and unsheathing his sword.

"Don't even think about it, sir Bors." A feminine voice said and they all turned around to see a stern yet amused Arturia at the entrance of the room.

"The King has entered the room, rise!" All noise abruptly ceased, save for the sound of dozens of men standing at the same time.

They waited patiently as the king made her way to the table and sat next to Lancelot. "You can all sit down." She ordered.

"He started it!" Bors whispered once they sat, making Lancelot open his mouth to retort, but Saber was faster.

"It does not matter if he started it or not, we are currently King Leodegrance guests. It will be wise not to cause a racket." She said calmly, clearly used to their antics. She cleaned her hands with a bowl of water and just when she took her cutlery, everyone started to eat.

"O'course, no bad manners at your father-in-law's home, eh Arthur?" Bors joked after a while, making Shirou spill a mouthful of wine that almost reached Lancelot.

Everyone looked at him weirdly with their eyebrows raised. "Sorry, huh…" He said lamely and to his relief, everyone just shuddered and resumed eating. He knew that King Arthur was married to Guinevere but he was expecting some kind of change, like Arthur's gender for instance.

He took a glance at his former servant who was eyeing Percival and him with a raised eyebrow as if they were out of place.

"Do not worry about them Arthur, I invited this one to sit down with us and the other one is his friend." Bors explained, patting Shirou in the back so hard that it made him choke with the food. Saber just nodded and drank from her goblet of wine. "This lad has talent!"

"If you do not kill him before we reach Camelot, then maybe he could make some fine swords for all of us." Gawain said with sarcasm while he drank some wine.

"You are such a pessimist, Gawain." Bors uttered before biting a piece of pork. The light brown haired man just shrugged his shoulders.

- - -

It was the first time that Shirou ate so much in one single night. He served himself a plate full of food three times, but of course he couldn't match Arturia's five servings or Bors' seventh. By the end of the supper, his stomach was so full of food that he doubted he could even walk. Everyone else was pretty much in the same shape.

Now, all he needed was a bath and a nice pillow and he could die in peace.

"Hey Percival, do you know when we'll be able to take a bath?" He whispered to his new friend after their company was gone to deal with their duties.

The younger warrior looked at him weirdly. "Huh… do you really need a bath? We already cleaned our wounds."

Shirou sweat dropped and scratched his head, "Well of course I do, it's been three… I mean, it's been a long time since I took a bath."

"But you cleaned yourself at that river we passed two days ago." He told him as a-matter-of factly.

Shirou raised an eyebrow. _If cleaning your face and your hands can be called taking a bath_, he thought, "Er… Yes but-"

"Time to sleep men, we have a big day ahead of us." Lancelot yelled at everyone and Shirou guessed that meant he wouldn't be able to take that bath._ Damn_, he mused.

Since they didn't have rooms for so many people in the castle, all of them had to sleep in a big room with just a thin sheet of cloth to cover them from the cold night. Shirou sighed at the cruel reality and used his bag as a pillow, falling asleep quickly even at his uncomfortable position.

- - -

There was food, lots and lots of food.

For some reason he was feeling very hungry and there were three huge tables full of plenty different types of dishes just for him. He jumped in joy and hummed a cheerful song while he approached a particular mouth watering piece of pork. Looking around cautiously as if he was a thief, he extended his hand to grab the meat but just when he was about to take it, it disappeared.

He frowned and raised an eyebrow, removing his hand from where the pork should have been.

"Are you going to eat all that by yourself?" A voice behind him asked.

He turned around and saw Percival, looking at him with a contagious smile on his face. He smiled back, "Of course not! But I wonder how all this food got here."

"Aye, I wonder, and look, there is a bath too!" He said, pointing to where Shirou was looking a moment ago.

Shirou turned around and sure enough, a gigantic room with all kind of shampoos and bath gels appeared from nowhere just behind the food table. Shirou was about to cry in joy. "Come on!"

The blond laughed and nodded, "O'right but why don't we take care of that dragon first?"

"Huh? What dragon?" Shirou asked confused, turning around again to see what his friend was talking about, and to his horror, just behind Percival was a gigantic red dragon.

And it was very, _very_ angry.

"RUN!" He shouted. But it was too late, the dragon had already charged, its enormous mouth about to shut around the young blond's body. "Nooooooooooooooo." Shirou screamed and everything turned in slow motion. He started to run towards his friend but he was too slow.

Too slow.

- - -

"IT'S A DRAGON! WAKE UP! WAKE UP. WE HAVE TO HELP THE CITIZENS!"

Shirou's eyes flung open at once at the desperate yells. Blood was pumping rapidly in his veins and he was sweating a lot even though it was freezing cold. He sat up straight and watched the chaos around him; everyone was running, yelling, getting dressed or panicking.

"Shin! Hurry up! Let us go help the others!" A full dressed Percival yelled not too far away. Shirou stood up and looked at him as if he was a ghost, images of his dream still fresh in his mind. He started to dress up quickly, still a little dazed when the blond dragged him outside the castle to the city hall.

He wasn't prepared for what awaited him out there.

If he has to describe hell one day, he'll just say that it is what he saw today. All the buildings he passed no more than six hours ago were up in flames and the strong smell of burned skin confused his senses. Citizens and soldiers were running to the castle, some of them screaming in terror. A lot of them were burned, cut or just completely terrified. He controlled the urge to fall on his knees helplessly; everything was so familiar, and yet so different. A life time of images flashed past his vision, making him remember the event he lived more than ten years ago.

His face must have been a perfect reflection of the scene because Percival, who wasn't as shaken as him, grabbed him by the shoulders and screamed at his face.

"Compose yourself, Shin! People are dying, they need our help!" And just as he said that, a terrific inhuman screech was heard, making them both shiver.

Shirou could feel his younger companion's hands shaking, "I'm sorry, you are right, let's go." He nodded with conviction, getting out of his reverie. Percival nodded back and together they ran toward the source of the commotion.

They didn't need to run too far to see what they feared. A big menacing orange dragon was on top of a house breathing fire at a group of people that were surrounding it. Shirou didn't recognize the group until the dragon tackled one of them, making him end up right in front of him.

"Urgh...!"

"Sir Ywain!" Shirou and Percival yelled at the same time, running to the old man's aid.

"Are you all right?" The time traveler asked with worry. Ywain's shape wasn't very good, he was bleeding a lot from the left side of his abdomen which he was clutching and he had a pretty nasty gash on the right side of his face.

"I have been better..." He half smiled and then winced. Percival moved Shirou aside and began to check the knight's injuries, pulling at the end his shirt until it broke off and using the piece of cloth to stop the flow of blood a bit.

The dragon flew away from the group to the east part of the city. They heard someone shout to follow it and then they disappeared in the smoke and the flames. Shirou guessed Arturia was among that group and panicked.

Percival started to panic too, "He is losing a lot of blood, we have to get him out of here!"

"No way... I've got to... help the others..." The old man tried to get up but Shirou pinned him down gently.

"Sorry sir Ywain, but we won't let you go anywhere with those injuries." He told him firmly, shaking his head. The knight grimace and opened his mouth to argue but after a little while he thought better of it and nodded slowly, "Perci, take him to the castle, I'll go help the others."

"WHAT?! No way! You are not going there alone mate-!"

"Hey, you said it yourself, if someone doesn't take him to the castle now he will die!" The older teen interrupted him, "Now please, go before it's too late!" He stared him with pleading eyes.

Percival scowled and took a glance at Ywain who was almost passing out and then at Shirou who had already unsheathed his two swords, "Curses! All right, all right... But do not die in there, you hear me?"

Shirou half smiled at him nervously, "Of course I won't, now go!" _What's a dragon or two, _he mused, trying to cheer himself up.

Percival nodded, put Ywain's arm around his shoulders and started to walk back to the castle. Shirou took a deep breath and ran to the east, letting the screeching sounds of the dragon guide him.

The ground was shaking under him as he got closer to his destination. The smoke was making his eyes water and he knew that his hair and his face should be gray by now, given all the smoke and the ashes.

If his already sore feet hadn't been hurting him, he'd have thought it was all a dream. Everything felt so unreal, a lot of things changed so fast that he couldn't keep track of them all; people screaming and running past him, kids yelling their parents' names and asking for help.

He wished that somehow, he could be able to help everyone at the same time.

"_Such foolish thoughts..."_ A deep voice said, making Shirou stop suddenly. His eyes were searching everywhere for the owner of that voice, but he didn't see anyone talking or even looking at him. He shook his head, thinking that maybe the voice was an effect of the situation and began running again.

After turning a corner he arrived to a place where a few houses should have been, but that were now replaced by a pile of rubble. His expression changed to one of pure horror. Up close, the dragon seemed a lot bigger than before, his orange scales were glittering in the full moon light and his full set of yellow teeth were out menacingly. It had paws the size of Shirou's whole body and its deadly claws stood out as it paced.

The group of people, which he could now recognize as Arturia, Lancelot, Bors, Gawain and six veteran soldiers, were trying to surround it. Around them, at least a dozen of other armoured men were at the floor either burned or shred into pieces.

He heard Lancelot charging at the dragon with a feral shout, but the beast merely felt his blade once it collided against its right paw. The dragon growled loudly and with a swift flap of its wings, blew the knight a few yards away from it.

Shirou ran towards Lancelot and helped him stand up while the other knights and warriors tried to pierce through the rough dragon's skin.

"What... are you doing here, newcomer?" Lancelot winced when the tracer helped him stand up, a little trail of blood making its way over his right eye.

"It should... be... obvious," He managed to say between breaths, supporting himself on his knees.

"Suit yourself..." And with that, he ran towards the dragon again with Shirou right behind him.

They had to dodge a fire ball that came their way, almost catching the red-haired young man's foot. "That was close..." He muttered, containing his breath.

"If you can, aim for its chest! The skin is not as rough there!" Arturia shouted above the growls.

They kept dodging the dragon's strikes with difficulty and tried in vain to slash any part of it. Saber swung her sword against one of its wings and managed to rip it a bit, making the creature furious. Shirou tried to find an opening for its chest but the dragon kept it well protected, exposing it just when it flapped its wings.

After a couple of minutes of which the reptile kept attacking the blonde with everything it could, the beast gave up and changed its target, aiming for one of the warriors and successfully biting him and ripping him apart. Shirou shut his eyes tightly and turned his head to one side, his jaw clenched.

"Watch out!" Lancelot screamed, making him open his eyes.

The first thing he saw was the dragon's claws over his head. As fast as he could, he brought both swords over his head to parry the attack. He managed to stop it, but the beast's strength was so brutal that he had to bend on his knees for support, and even then he could feel as if his muscles and bones were breaking by the pressure.

He heard how his companions tried desperately to catch the dragon's attention, but nothing they did worked. He was going to die if this kept up and when his arms were about to give in, he heard a metallic crack and panicked. Both swords were nearly breaking too and if they did, he'd be definitely done for. Thinking at the speed of light he dashed quickly to one side, leaving his falchions behind and managing to escape the dragon's assault but breaking his left arm in the process.

The pain he felt was unbearable and he laid helpless on his back, his body as stiff as a rock. When the creature was about to strike him again, it screeched in pain louder than ever. Bors had managed to slash its chest and even if it wasn't enough to kill it, at least the action saved Shirou's life.

The tracer used the opportunity to drag himself away from the dragon slowly and lend against a large piece of debris. Now, sword-less and with a broken arm, he couldn't do anything to help the others. Watching from afar, he saw how the rest of group was helplessly decreasing, even Gawain was severely hurt and Bors had to drag him away. He used the time to improvise a support for his broken arm with a couple of planks that were half burned and a piece of his shirt that he ripped off. He knew it wouldn't help much but at least it was something.

Another loud sound of agony was heard and Shirou looked up to see Arturia piercing one side of the creature chest, missing the heart by an inch. The dragon flapped its wings fiercely, making her petite body fly away higher and farther than anyone else. On the descent, she hit her head hard against a rock and fell unconscious.

That's when adrenaline filled him and before Shirou knew it he was on his feet. He felt dizzy and all his body hurt like never before, but he had to save her, he'd not let her die here.

Not too fast, but surely, he began to make a trot towards his former servant with desperation.

"Take Arthur away Bors, quickly!" Lancelot screamed in panic, trying to catch the beast's attention by slashing its long tail. The dragon gave its tail a quick move and the knight was sent flying, knocking Bors on his way. The only common warrior left apparently lost his sword and was gravely hurt so he just stared in shock, unable to do anything.

Slowly, the creature approached the unconscious King and opened its mouth widely. Shirou panicked and even with the unbearable pain he ran as fast as he could. "NO! SABER! SABER!" He screamed desperately and traced Kanshou again, not caring if anyone saw him.

The dragon's mouth started to radiate an orange light and flames were starting to surge from his throat.

"NO! DAMN IT, I'M TOO SLOW!" He ran as fast as his pained legs carried him but she seemed still so far away... "FASTER! FASTER! FASTER!" He repeated hysterically.

Very suddenly all type of sound seemed to disappear.

"_You want to save her?_" The same mysterious voice he heard before asked, resounding in the silence.

"OF COURSE I WANT TO!"

"_Calm down, concentrate and repeat each word I'm about to tell you._"

Shirou stopped running and impatiently nodded to the invisible owner of the voice and closed his eyes.

"_I am the bone of my sword."_ The voice said solemnly.

"I am the bone of my sword." He repeated feeling with each word the familiar sensation he felt whenever he traced something.

"Steel is my body," Hundreds of blades, spears, bows and other weapons flashed on his mind, "And fire is my blood."

"I have created over a thousand blades." With each word, knowledge of weapons he hasn't ever seen or imagined filled him.

"Unknown to death."

"Nor known to life." For some reason, he heard the Dragon crying in pain, but never once got distracted.

"Have withstood pain to create many weapons."

"Yet, those hands will never hold anything." He felt as if his left broken arm was burning in flames.

"So as I pray..." By now, he could hardly bare the pain on his arm, but still, with one last breath he shouted:

"**'Unlimited Blade Works'!"**

**-**

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

*O* Finally done! I really hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writting it. Chapter 5 will take a little longer to get posted; I'm going out of the country soon so I won't be writting for a couple of weeks... Don't worry though, you'll see more of this soon.

**Side Notes:**

**1. **The location of Agned Hills in this fanfic is not the actual location. I didn't find where exactly it was so I choose the location conveniently near Camelot in a place called Celidoine. The map I used can be found on my profile.

**2. **The dragon I used for this chapter can be found on my profile too.

**3.** Probably a lot of you are asking yourselves why I used Archer's chant for Shirou's Unlimited Blade Works. The anwser is because I'm focusing on F/SN only, I'm not using anything about the other fate routes, so, using Shirou's UBW chant wouldn't make any sense... hope you understand.

-Arkueid


	5. Loyal to the Sword and Armor

That last chapter sure left a lot of questions in your brains, eh? Haha, everything will be answered at some point :D Thanks for reviewing. Thanks Yuleen for the support. And of course thank you gmsephiroth, this chapter was by far the hardest and if it wasn't for you it'd be full of mistakes, thanks fren.

WARNING: Involves established fictional characters, which may or may not fit within the reader's preconception about said characters.

DISCLAIMER: Relevant characters and source materials belong to their respective copyright owners. The author lays claim to the rest. Use for non-commercial purposes only.

* * *

**Turning back the pendulum  
Chapter V – **Loyal to the Sword and Armor

_-._"_Do what you can, with what you have, where  
you are."_.- Theodore Roosevelt

-

There were three things Shirou was sure of when he woke up. First, he had defeated a dragon single handedly using a mysterious power that he didn't even know he had. Second, he was currently in a wagon that smelled strongly of horses and cows. And lastly, he couldn't move his arms or his legs because it seemed he was being held captive.

He tried to sit up but thought otherwise when every muscle in his body cried in agony. He grunted at the throbbing pain that invaded him, mostly on his left arm. Someone probably threw him in the wagon and didn't care where he landed because he was in a very uncomfortable position at the moment; laying down on the right side of his body, his hands were shackled at his back and his legs were clasped together by a rope.

The pain on his left arm was almost unbearable, but he endured it, noticing that someone had put a splint on it.

As if the situation wasn't already bad, he was freezing cold; his fingers were numb, he had goose bumps and he would probably die out of starvation soon. He noticed it was probably snowing outside as little dopplets were making their way down through the deteriorated vehicle's little holes, giving the wagon a dampness that reinforced the cold.

Outside, a few men were talking amongst themselves, but he couldn't figure out what they were saying. The time traveler exhaled softly and allowed himself to feel the vibrations of the moving wagon.

"So you are finally awake, eh lad?" A familiar hoarse voice said. The red-haired teen looked around from his position and caught a glimpse of Bors' face, illuminated by the dim sunlight that came from the holes.

The big man approached him slowly and to his horror, pointed his sword at him, "Pardon, but what you did back there... Well, you know." He said, dragging him up with his free hand roughly. Shirou grimaced and yelped when Bors grabbed his left arm. "Whoops, forgot it was broken."

The tracer would have said something nasty but when he opened his mouth he felt his throat completely dry and frowned. Bors stared at him with a serious look without saying another word.

"W-w-water..." He finally managed to whisper between trembling teeth.

"Ah, right." Bors grabbed a water bottle and helped Shirou drink it.

After drinking almost the whole container he sighed, "T-that's a-a-a l-lot better."

"Cold aren't you?" Shirou nodded rapidly and blushed, making Bors chuckle lowly, "I like you lad, but this is not an inn, so you will have to hang in there. You are a prisoner after all."

Shirou's eyebrows narrowed with confusion as he tried to remember what exactly happened.

The older man sighed, "I assume Arthur and Lancelot were right after all."

Shirou looked down and gasped, moving his body forward with alarm, "W-where i-i-is sh-she?!"

Bors brought his sword closer to his throat, making him back down. "Calm down. Now, just who are you talkin' about?"

Shirou's heart was racing as he gulped and slowly uttered, "S-sa, I mea-mean Ar-Art..."

The knight interrupted him, "Callin' Arthur 'she', huh? You will have some explainin' to do when we reach Camelot. I will be lookin' forward to hearin' it." And with that he finished their conversation and looked away with a bored expression.

Shirou leant his head against the wooden walls and sighed tirely. _What a mess_, he thought as he started to remember the recent events.

- - -

"_Unlimited Blade Works!" He shouted while he opened his eyes._

_To say that he was surprised was an understatement. What he saw, what he _did, _was not from this world._

_The environment had somehow changed dramatically; the flames and rubble were replaced by an spacious deserted landscape and the sky, which had been dark and cloudless a second ago, was now a breath taking sunset with picturesque dark clouds._

_But the most incredible thing was what stood out of the ground._

_Every single sword he'd ever made and the ones he never thought he'd create were there, inviting him to grab, feel and use them. He stared at them with fascination, recognizing every single one of them._

_Dismissing his surprise, he searched urgently for Arturia and the dragon and spotted them at once. The blonde was a few feet away, laying inconcious, but the dragon, that to his surprise was crying in agony with his left wing cut off, had completely forgotten his previous prey and was aimlessly running around in confusion, spitting fire in random directions._

_Even if what stood in front of him could be considered as a helpless creature, all that Shirou could feel toward it was anger. He ground his teeth and began approaching the beast slowly, his hold around his sword tightening._

_He didn't stop to look if anyone else was there with them. For him, it was only the dragon and himself._

_He glanced around at the blades surrounding him, wondering how he could use them against the giant creature. Should he grab one sword in particular? Or maybe not... maybe he should just charge..._

"What is it that you truly wish for?" _The mysterious voice asked._

I just wish for every single blade here to pierce the dragon to death_, he thought with desperation and to his great surprise, at the moment he finished that thought, every blade around him began to levitate until they were high in the sky. Confused and terrified, both the large reptile and himself looked up at the blades above them and before they could figure out what was happening, every single one of them flew toward the dragon._

_The enormous creature screeched in agony as it was pierced by the blades from every direction, successfully ending its life instantaneously. Shirou could only stare at the scene in disbelief, his eyes open wide._

"Heh, not bad_." The mysterious voice said, sounding awfully familiar for a minute._

"_My...God..." He heard Gawain utter lowly. He was, to Shirou's horror, a few steps away from him holding the right side of his abdomen tightly, his bloody and muddy face a reflection of pure terror. Lancelot and Bors were a little farther away with similar expressions on their faces._

_The feelings were foreign for him. Never once had he witness such atrocity, even less had he ever thought he'd be the main contributor to it. He felt terrible, devastated, like a criminal._

_Unexpectedly, an odd sensation invaded him. His whole body gave little spasms before he kneeled down and threw up. The dimension he created and his armor vanished together with all the swords and before he could notice, they were back to the destroyed and burned night streets. _

_He looked up behind the carnage that was once a dragon and caught a glance of Arturia's unconcious form and his own body succumbed to the ground, his vision no longer clear. With one last pitiful attempt, he extended his right arm in the blonde's direction, trying in vain to reach for her._

"_Saber...Arturia..." He whispered before his eyelids shut and everything around him fell into complete darkness._

- - -

By now, Shirou knew that to explain everything that happened to other people would be nearly impossible. He didn't know what exactly happened himself; all he was sure about was that his powers are much,_ much_ more than simple weapon tracing abilities and that _someone_ was speaking to him inside his head.

Shirou closed his eyes and brought his knees near his face to gather some heat.

For the first time since he came to this time, he felt alone. With none of his friends near to talk to him or to try to cheer him up, he came to the realization that he was truly on his own in this mess.

He was feeling lost at the moment; with no clues as to where he was, what time it was, how long he had been unconscious for or how the dragon ordeal ended. He simply wanted, no, he _needed_ to know.

With this thought on his mind, he stared at Bors. The knight had put down his sword and was currently looking at the wooden roof of the wagon mindlessly, his tiny blue eyes narrowed with boredom. Shirou knew that Bors didn't have to answer anything he asked, but he tried anyways.

"S-s-..." He began weakly and scratchy while his teeth chattered shamelessly with cold. He cleared his throat and began again, "S-sir Bors,"

"Hm?" The broad man asked with no apparent interest.

"P-p-plea-se... Tell m-me i-if t-the k-king is alri-right..."

Bors raised an eyebrow with curiosity, but after a little pause he went back to his previous position, ignoring the redhead's question completely.

Shirou's eyes filled with worry. He had to know, he had the _right_ to know. "P-please... I-I beg you." He said, bending his head lowly.

He heard Bors moving from his position and felt him getting closer until he was in front of him. Shirou dared to look up and saw the knight staring at him intensely.

"A knight looks at the eyes of the one his speakin' to," Bors said, his tone serious and solemn. Shirou held his breath, "Even while beggin'." He added and smiled a tiny bit, "He is fine, Gawain did a good job patching Arthur up." He finally said, "The king's pride was probably the only thing greatly hurt, he received a severe injury on his head but he woke up after a few hours, unlike you who slept like a dog for the past four days."

The words sank slowly through his system and some heat returned to his body. In one hand, he was very disturbed by the fact that he was out for four days, but the relief he felt knowing that Arturia was all right was greater.

"T-thank y-you, sir Bors." He said trying to smile, but all that came out was a grimace.

Bors nodded, took one last glance at him and went back to sit down and lean against the wet wooden walls.

- - -

At some point of the freezing and uncomfortable ride, Bors fed Shirou with an old and hard piece of bread that could have been a rock for all he knew. He could hear the faint sound of the crickets outside, indicating that it was night already. That was when the wagon finally stopped and they heard three knocks on the back door.

Bors let out a heavy breath, opened the door and right after that, Lancelot appeared outside holding a torch. Other movement could be heard as soldiers and knights dismounted.

"Sleepin' beauty is finally up." Bors joked, tilting his head towards Shirou who looked at Lancelot with curiosity, eager to know what his reaction would be after the dragon issue.

"It was about time." The knight said, ignoring the young man and moving aside to let Bors out. "It seems we will have to camp here, the villagers said that the bridge was destroyed by a storm recently, so sir Ywain recommended that we take the path through Logres to reach Camelot." He informed.

Bors stretched and yawned weary, "The old man is right. It will take us a little longer that way but it will be safer. What did Arthur said?"

"He seemed a little upset, but agreed. Looks like the king is eager to reach Camelot." Lancelot said, eyeing Shirou for the first time.

"Aren't we all?" Bors retorted with sarcasm.

"Sir Lancelot, sir Bors," a young soldier greeted interrupting their conversation and Shirou smiled widely when he saw who it was.

"Sorry lad, but the prisoner is off limits, maybe some other time." Bors said, guessing Percival's reason for his visit.

"Oh..." The teen replied with disappointment.

One quick glance at his eyes was all it took Shirou to know that the blond was very confused. Perhaps one day he'll be able to explain everything to his friend, but for now, keeping a distance was the best choice.

"I apologize for intruding," He saluted again, smiled sadly at Shirou and left.

Bors stared at the time traveler for a little while and then closed the wagon's door, leaving him in almost complete darkness.

"Where is Arthur? He has been actin' odd lately." He heard Bors ask.

Lancelot was the one to reply, "He is with Gawain by the river. I would leave him alone if I were you."

"But you are not me, bastard."

Lancelot chuckled, "Do as you wish."

"Always do. Oh and by the way, I have to talk to all of you about..." He didn't finish his sentence but Shirou had the feeling that he knew about _who _he wanted to talk about.

After a little while, Bors' faint steps died down as he left and the only thing Shirou could hear was the noice produced by the soldiers' activities and the sounds of nature. He knew that he was probably being watched by Lancelot's sharp eyes, so trying anything wouldn't be the best choice.

Concluding that he probably wasn't going to get anything to eat or any more questions answered, he got into a more confortable position, his legs as close to his chest as possible to gather more heat, and closed his eyes. The cold was already too much to bear, if he didn't do something about it soon... well, he didn't want to think about it.

Almost as though his thoughts had fluttered through the wagon's tiny holes, the door opened and Lancelot's face came to view.

He was carrying a thick blanket in one hand and a mug with humid liquid in the other. And for the minute in which Shirou stared at him with a puzzled expresion, he seemed undecided between going inside or shutting the door again.

Finally, with a heavy breath, he entered the small wagon and sat down across Shirou. He put the mug and the blanket on the wooden floor and searched for something inside his pocket. Shirou stayed silent, afraid to say a word and watched as the knight pull out a set of keys from his armor.

Getting closer to the time traveler, Lancelot turned him around roughly and unshackled his hands. Though his hands were finally free, Shirou didn't want to move and he guessed that his hands were probably an ice block by now.

Lancelot grabbed the blanket and threw it at him, "No use letting you die now. Take it." _Take it _he said, as if he could complain in the matter.

With one slow movement of his arms, he used his right hand to grab the blanket with numb and shaky fingers and extended it around him, pressing it tightly. He rubbed his hand against every part of his body, little spasms getting the better of him. Lancelot just stared at him while he worked, not a hint of impatience on his handsome features.

"Drink this." He ordered rather than offered, extending the mug towards him. Shirou extended his right arm and took it slowly, not trusting his shaky hands. He brought the cup to his lips and smelled its contents reluctantly. The smell wasn't pleasant, he was half expecting hot chocolate or tea but what greeted his nostrils was a mixture of sour herbs, dirt, alcohol and something else he couldn't grasp.

Without thinking twice he drank the hot drink in one gulp. And though he could feel his whole body heating like fire, the taste was even worse than the smell, so he couldn't help grimacing once it was down his throat. He caught a hint of amusement in Lancelot's eyes for the tiniest fraction of a second before he went back to his usual persona.

"T-thank you…" Shirou whispered with embarrassment.

"Do not fool yourself. A knight offers aid to the one who saves his life, even if it is a foul beast." And again, there it was; the knight's code or so Shirou called it. By now, he wanted to know everything about it, although he felt a little offended by the 'foul beast' part.

An unconfortable silence filled the wagon before Shirou spoke, "I...I-"

"I do not want nor need to hear anything you have to say. Save your words for the king when the time comes." Lancelot snapped coldly.

He couldn't help feeling a bit angry. Sure, he did something strange and horrible but he saved his life! He could at least be a little grateful. Shirou snorted and looked away while Lancelot waited a little longer until the redhead's body heat went from freezing cold to cool.

The knight stood up and approached Shirou, his sword dangerously close to his throat, and shackled his hands again, this time in his front. Shirou let Lancelot restrain him once more without complaints and wrapped the blanket more tightly around himself when the brunette glanced at him one last time before he left, closing the door behind him.

Shirou sighed and considered his options. He could either rest a bit now that he was more confortable or stay awake and wait for something to happen. With one last look at the dark surroundings, he decided to do the former. He let himself fall to the right side of his body and rested his head against the solid wooden floor before closing his eyes and after what seemed like an eternity, he fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, not sure if it was a dream or not, Shirou heard sounds inside the wagon. He opened his sleepy eyes and catched a blurry image of someone, but as soon as he blinked to get a clear view, he or she was gone and Shirou's eyes closed again.

- - -

When the tiny holes of the wagon were filled with the bright rays of the sun, he opened his eyes. The weather was warmer and the wagon was moving again. This time, Gawain was the one watching him. He had to contain a chuckle; the legendary Knights of the Round Table taking turns to watch over him; that ought to be worth something.

When he started to stir up, Gawain eyed him fiercely, clearly warning him to not try anything funny.

Of all the knights Shirou had met, this one was the most reserved and quiet, or at least that's what he appeared. Gawain remained in his sitting position, his cheek propped on his palm and his dark green eyes fixed upon him, making the tracer feel uncomfortable.

Shirou decided that now was the perfect time to check himself up. Even if he couldn't see it, he knew his hair was probably a bird's nest, his whole body was dirty with mud and dried blood and his clothes were ripped in many different places. But what really caught his attention was his left arm.

With the help of the sun he could now see the condition of it. Besides being on a splint, they had bandaged it up to his upper arm. He found that odd, but for whatever reason, he felt grateful for whoever patched him up.

"Huh... Sir Gawain?" He called tentatively, looking the knight in the eyes.

"Yes?" He asked politely, but coldly.

"Could you please thank whoever healed me and bandaged me?"

Gawain stared at him with a bit of amusement and then said, "He already got your message."

At that, Shirou chuckled and smiled.

- - -

Noon came and Gawain, who hadn't exchanged any more words with the time traveler, fed him with another piece of old bread that left Shirou even hungrier. Living from small portions of bread and water had proven to be horrible at best.

The wagon slowed down, probably to take a quick break and when it finally stopped, Gawain left Shirou locked up and alone.

He didn't mind being left alone; it helped him concentrate more on what he was going to say when they reached Camelot. Soon he found out that ideas were not cooperating with him. His father always said that the truth is always the right path when you are confused and have gone astray, but in this case, saying the truth and killing himself were probably the same thing.

The knight came back a little while later and just before he shut the door Shirou caught a blur of golden hair and his eyes met Arturia's for a second. His heart caught up his throat and he looked down with sadness. All he wanted was to be with her, but all these restraints and recent events were driving them further and further apart.

The wagon started moving again, but he didn't seem to notice. His mind was blank and his stare was lost; if he managed to stay alive after his 'explanation', just what was he supposed to do? Alright, he managed to go back in time, he was with Arturia, one who neither knew nor trusted him, but what was _really _the purpose of coming here? Just who was the mysterious person who wanted him here? So many questions without answers, it was making him frustrated.

Time ticked as seconds rolled by and between naps and thoughts, the sun began fading once more.

"Look! We are finally here!" A soldier shouted outside and Shirou looked up as a crowd of cheers and comments erupted.

Gawain straightened up, "It seems we finally arrived... You had best be prepared."

Shirou looked away and frowned. So this was it, his fate will be decided now.

After a while, Shirou could hear cheers, yells and screams of despair from every direction.

"Long live the king!"

"My king! Look this way!"

"Please help us, your majesty!"

"Where is my son?! Where is he!?"

Shirou looked at Gawain, his eyes narrowed with confusion. The knight merely closed his eyes, shook his head and sighed. For once, Shirou was starting to understand some of his former servant's grief; not being able to help her people and even if she did her very best, it was never enough.

"Open the gates!" A soldier yelled and he heard the creaking sounds of the large wooden doors.

Finally, after having advanced a little more, the cheers and shouts subsided and the wagon stopped.

"We have arrived." Gawain informed while he approched Shirou and cut off the ropes around his legs with his sword, "Come." He added, dragging Shirou out of the wagon.

Shirou almost fell off the vehicle. His legs were completely numb and his whole body hurt a bit when he was finally straightened up. As soon as he was out, three spearmen came to Gawain's side and pointed their spears at him. He looked around a bit and noticed that he was on the castle's grounds; the wagon had stopped in a dark chamber illuminated by little torches.

"Wait here." Gawain ordered and left. Leaving Shirou with the three soldiers.

He waited while anxiety consumed him and after half an hour or so, the knight came back and signaled them to follow him.

With two men at his back and Gawain and another soldier at his sides, he started to walk towards a set of short stairs until he was in a corridor that led to the throne room. The familiar marble walls he saw so many times through Saber's dreams greeted him. Amazing paintings of landscapes and former kings and queens were set on the white walls between wooden doors through the long corridor and bright torches illuminated their way. Servants stood aside while they paced and looked at Shirou with curiosity.

After turning a corner and walking through another hall they finally stopped in front of a big and beautifully carved dark wooden set of double doors. Shirou started to perspire and felt his legs getting weak.

Gawain stepped infront and opened the doors, revealing a room so splendid that Shirou's mouth fell wide open instantaneosly. It was lit by a huge candelier that hung up in an arc shaped ceiling supported by a number of doric columns. Knights, soldiers and some people with long robes stood along the sides of the room, looking at Shirou intensely.

His gaze followed a long blue carpet that leaded to a couple of fine chairs at the back of the room.

In those chairs rested a tired but firm Arturia and an extremely beautiful lady with long and curled brown-redish hair that Shirou guessed was Queen Guinevere. Just behind Arturia was a tall old man with an extravagant long white beard and little round glasses. Shirou saw this man a lot of times in Saber's dreams and identified him as the great wizard Merlin.

When Gawain started walking, a soldier pushed the time traveler roughly and almost made him fall, but luckily he ragained his footing on time. He looked up and found the blonde looking right into his eyes with an unreadable expression.

He gulped nervously and feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, he walked up until he was right in front of the king, the queen and the wise mage. The two soldiers on his back grabbed his head and pinned him down until he fell on his knees, then one of them fisted his hair and made him bend his head.

Gawain cleared his throat so softly that if Shirou had not been so near he'd never have heard. Then, he loudly announced, "Presenting prisoner and self proclaimed Shin from Britons, accused for the use of an uncommon type of magic and the attempt to deceive His Majesty and the Knights. Our majesty, King Arthur Pendragon the first, ruler of England, will now sentence."

Silence filled the room and Arturia spoke, "My apologies to everyone in this room. I am aware that it is past your working hours, however, this case holds a deep importance and it should be handled immediately. Before I set sentence, I will keep my word and hear this 'Shin from Britons' explain himself," her voice was firm, yet tired, as was evident to Shirou. The hand restraining his head was removed and he was finally able to look up. Guinevere was staring at Arturia with concern from the corner of her eyes while everyone else looked directly at him. "You can now speak."

Shirou took a deep breath and looked at her eyes, his decision already made, "I do not mean to be rude, your Majesty, but if it is not much to ask, I would like to explain myself in a more... private location."

Gasps, whispers and accusation followed his words, but Shirou didn't pay them heed. His intense and sincere gaze had an underlying hint of longing that made the hero of knights blink and look at him with surprise for a minute.

"My, my," An elderly voice said, breaking the silence that followed. Merlin was looking at him as if he was the most amusing creature he has ever encountered. His tiny gray eyes were glinting behind his spectacles and a wide grin was set on his face, "What did you bring here, my dear Arthur? Isn't he an interesting little one?" He said cheerfully.

Shirou gasped and couldn't help trying to stand up. How hadn't he figured it out earlier? It was so obvious!

"You!" He exclaimed and the spearmen pointed their weapons at him threatening. Merlin merely raised his thick white eyebrows, "You were the one who called me here!"

More whispers surged and everyone watched the wizard with curiosity while the wise man just stared at Shirou with more interest than before, "Pardon?"

"You called me through, er, you know..." He said uncomfortably, a bit scared now that he realized his outburst. But he couldn't be wrong about that voice, he was sure it was Merlin's.

"I believe I am not aware of what you are reffering to young man, but I'm _very _interested to know more about it."

Shirou gulped and thought for a little moment, careful not too say anything that he might regret, "Uh, as I said before, I cannot speak nor explain anything with so many witnesses."

"How dare you!" Someone shouted and a lot more comments followed.

Shirou ignored them and looked at the king, waiting for her answer.

She raised a hand and the room felt silent again, "Shin from Britons, what you ask is foolish. Every person in this room is worthy of my trust, if you have anything to say, now is the time."

Shirou looked away and bit his lower lip, he had already said too much to the wizard, if he hadn't caught the message then there was definetely something wrong. Everyone was waiting for his answer, if he didn't say something fast, he would surely get in a lot of trouble. What to do, what to do...

He took one breath and said, "I'm sorry, there's a lot at risk if I speak in front of so many people. Please your Majesty..."

The king seemed to be considering her options but before she could say anything, Merlin leaned his head near her ear and whispered something. After a short pause that seemed like an eternity, Arturia heard her adviser, nodding now and then and finally the old man leaned back and smiled.

"I have come to a conclusion." Arturia said making Shirou hold his breath, "You will explain yourself at the Round Table, the Knights will be the witnesses." She said and Shirou gave her a toothy smile.

"Nonsense! How can you listen to this... this runt's request!" One of the men in robes said.

"My word is final, counselor."

The counselor ground his teeth and looked away angrily as every Knight of the Round Table, Arturia, Guinevere, Merlin and Shirou moved to another room next to the one they were at. This room was less impressive that the previous one, but it held an air of tranquility that made Shirou feel more at ease.

The first thing he saw was the famous Round Table at the center of the room, it was larger and simpler than he thought. Behind it was a huge England map which Shirou stared at in awe.

Gawain ordered him to take a seat in a chair that was not part of the table, near a pale blond man that had a stern expression plastered on his face and another knight who seems to be the only female one around. The room was noisy as everyone dragged their chairs and sat down. Once they were confy on their seats, every pair of eyes were instantly set on him.

"As you requested, we are in a more private location. Now, speak." Arturia ordered and stared at him with interest. The tracer looked around nervously. It was the first time that so many important people paid him the entirety of their attention and, if he didn't watch out, he would definitely end up dead.

He gulped and took a breath before saying one of the most cliché sentence he ever uttered in his life, "My real name is Shirou Emiya, and I come from the future."

-

_**To be continued...**_

_**

* * *

**_I'm back from my trip ^^ it was short but totally worth it :D I apologize again for the delay and hope this one is worth your waiting. Next chapter will probably take a while too because I'm in final exams and I need to gather some information which will take me a little longer than expected.

Until next chapter :)

-Arkueid


	6. Reasons

Even if I apologize 100 times, it probably won't be enough... I feel really bad that I made all of you wait for so long, even I didn't know this chapter would take me so much time. There's more than one reason I took this long, but none of them are worth mentioning here, so I'll just apologize and hope you guys don't chop my head...?

Ehem, anyway, I'll just go through it, but not before expressing my gratitude to all of you who reviewed, +fav, +alert or simply read this little story, thanks guys! I have to give my especial thanks to gmsephiroth as normal, this time however, I'm more grateful than ever! Thank you very much Joe. My thanks to Yuleen75 too, all the support you give me counts too!

The title of this chapter was gmsephiroth idea, he takes all the credit for that.

WARNING: Involves established fictional characters, which may or may not fit within the reader's preconception about said characters.

DISCLAIMER: Relevant characters and source materials belong to their respective copyright owners. The author lays claim to the rest. Use for non-commercial purposes only.

* * *

**Turning back the pendulum**

**Chapter VI – **Reasons

_-._" All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered;

The point is to discover them…".- Galileo Galilei

-

"What?"

"What foolishness is that?"

"Are you making fun of us, lad?"

"Can I kill him now, Your Majesty?"

The room was bursting with comments and accusations. It was to be expected, so Shirou stood silent while knights pointed their fingers at him, made nasty comments or plainly laughed. His eyes never left Arturia's. She was looking at him with a curiosity the others could not perceive. He knew that even if all the knights distrusted him, if he had her on his side, his chances of survival were higher. She shifted her position on her seat but didn't say anything.

"From the future you said?" The magus, Merlin, raised his voice above the others, catching everyone's attention.

Shirou nodded firmly, looked at him and replied, "Yes, I came here with the help of two talented magi."

Merlin's eyes widened slightly, "Must have been very talented magi indeed..." He pondered out loud while he caressed his long white beard.

"And you actually believe him, old man?" The pale blond knight near Shirou asked with a smug tone. Watching this knight, the young time traveler came to the conclusion that there were many different types of people within the Knights of the Round Table, and this guy was definitely the 'jerk' type.

"Oh no, no, nothing like that, my dear Kay. I was merely considering what the young man said," The wizard responded with a wide grin and then he added, "The truth has many paths. On the path where a truth and a lie collide, it is easier for the wise heart to see the truth." Shirou stared at him dumbfounded, his head drawing question marks.

"Stop those bloody riddles! I told you I hate them." Kay yelled at him while Merlin's grin just grew wider.

"Kay, shut up, you are making my head hurt." Bors snapped at him with exasperation.

"No, you shut u-"

"Kay." The king said with her eyes closed in meditation.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Please accept my apologies." He said lowly, bowing his head in shame. The tracer almost laughed and asked himself if that was really the same person that was shouting a second ago.

Arturia nodded, opened her vivid green eyes and stared back at Shirou.

"Assuming that what you are saying is true, Shirou Emiya, what is your purpose? Why did you come here?"

The moment she asked that all eyes were back at him, making him gulp. Arturia always had the ability to make him nervous and having at least twenty pairs of eyes on him wasn't exactly helping either.

He thought about her inquiry. What was his reason for coming here? What a good question. He, for certain, knew part of the reason, but admitting that his love for the hero of knights was the catalyst of such a reckless action was foolish. He'd have to give them as little information as he could and see if they accept him with that.

"It all started when I had a dream, a repetitive dream in which someone asked me to come to this time in order to help the king. I don't know why, but I was certain that the dream was important. With the little magic I know, I had to ask my friends to help me get here, and so here I am."

"The _little _magic you know?" Bors asked with sarcasm.

"Y-Yes, believe it or not, my magic level is not great at all... all I can accomplish is very basic magic, nothing else."

"If what we saw that day in Cameliard was 'not that great', then cut me some slack lad. Those were some bloody good tricks."

"I-Well... That wasn't exactly..."

"No need to be modest, we are all aware of what you are capable of." A knight interrupted. It was the first time that Shirou took a glance at him but at the moment he did, the red head couldn't take his eyes away from him. It was after a while that he identified the knight, the similarities between Arturia and him were too great to be mistaken. His stare morphed into a glare; this was him, Arturia's nephew and principal betrayer, Mordred, the one responsible for her death. "But I have to ask, why would our king need the help of a lowlife like you?"

"Maybe I have to protect her from people like you." He hissed with venom. It must have slipped because he intended to keep that thought to himself. But still, it was incredible that now that it was out, he didn't feel even a tiny bit of remorse.

"Wha-what did you say?" Mordred asked with anger as he stood up.

"Sit down Mordred. As for you Shirou Emiya, I recommend that you watch your tongue. Questioning the trust I put in my knights can be the last thing you do." Arturia snapped before Mordred could jump at him. Shirou was disappointed; he was half expecting a good reason to punch the bastard, even with his hands shackled and his broken arm.

"Oh, what a blessing it is to be young." Merlin commented, giving an overly dramatic sigh. He then pushed up his spectacles and continued, "But getting back to the topic, young man, did you blindly trust this voice you heard and come here even knowing the consequences?"

"It wasn't a totally unknown voice. In fact, the voice I heard was yours."

"Are you saying that Merlin called you here? Do not lie! If he had, he would have known!" Gawain accused him, as if what he said had offended him.

"Wait, Gawain. It is true that what he is saying is improbable, but it is not impossible." Merlin said, not really looking at anyone in particular, "Allow me to explain myself. Maybe it was me who called him here, but it is probable that I haven't done it... yet."

Shirou held his surprise. Of course, when Rin and Illya sent him here, they didn't consider a date in particular, they just hoped that it would work. After all, he didn't know exactly what time he had to travel to. So, following this theory, if Merlin communicated with him through dreams, maybe he will do so at a later date, that's why he doesn't know about it now!

After everything fell in place, the tracer smiled and nodded at the magus.

"Basically, what you are saying is that he traveled to the past but did not arrive at the precise time, correct? So, in the near future, you will call for him to come to this time?" Gawain asked and everyone seemed to understand his deductions.

"That is correct." The old man said calmly, "But it is just a possibility."

"I still cannot believe what this boy said. Everything seems too convenient, and besides, even if what he is saying is true, the king does not need the help of an outsider. He has us." Lancelot said and some people gave approving comments.

Shirou snorted lowly. He knew better than that. More than half the knights in this room were not trustworthy, he couldn't say which ones for sure, but for now, trusting them was not prudent.

"Do you have any proof, Shirou Emiya?" One black haired knight asked politely.

Proof? Surely he could tell them about things from the future, but they'd think he's crazy. The kind of proof they wanted was hard to come up with... The list of things he could say now was short, so after meditating a bit he came up with two options.

Option one: Telling them about the Holy Grail War. If he told them what the war was about and how the one he fought in was, chances were that they'll consider him. But of course, there were some negative points too; he wasn't as good at explaining complicated things like Tohsaka Rin and he could compromise a lot of things, a lot of embarrassing things.

Option two: Telling them about their future. With the knowledge he has, the visions that came straight from Arturia's memories, telling them the precise future was an easy thing and the odds of them believing him would surely increase. But the negative points on this were even greater than before; he'll have to be careful... if he lets out something of great importance the future could change.

"We do not have all night, Shirou Emiya." Arturia said, intimidating him with her gaze.

He frowned and hoped that this could convince them, "I come from a very distant future, the year is 2004. You might think that it is amazing, but the actions that you are undertaking now and will do later will be considered great deeds in the future. The most famous legend of England, the legend of King Arthur and his knights." He paused to gather his thoughts and then continued, "The things you will do are so incredible that people will soon start to believe that they never really happened. I was one of those people. But almost a year ago, something I didn't expect happened and I met you, Your Majesty."

"Wait a minute, how did you met His Majesty if you are from the future? You are contradicting yourself!"

"...What I met was not the King Arthur that we all see right now, he was what magi call a heroic spirit."

"Heroic spirit? That is-"

"Proceed." Arturia interrupted.

"The reason he was summoned at that time was to fight in the War for the Holy Grail..."

"The Holy Grail?!"

"...The Holy Grail was said to be able to grant any wish and for that reason, seven magi were able to summon seven heroic spirits using the miracle that is the Holy Grail. In order to obtain it, the heroic spirits and their summoners had to fight to the death until only one heroic spirit remained. I was one of those magi and the heroic spirit who was my partner was you." He finished, looking at Arturia who showed little surprise in her otherwise expressionless face.

"A heroic spirit?" She uttered lowly with a bit of emotion. Knowing her, she was probably considering that 'heroic' was nothing like her. "And you speak of the Holy Grail, but you are wrong. I do not need such a thing."

Shirou stared at her and bit his tongue. There was nothing he could tell her about that.

"You_ know_ Arthur; at least that much is true." Merlin said playfully. "You let your emotions reflect in your eyes."

Shirou blushed and looked away, "Someone told me that once."

"This is all too hard to believe." The only female knight declared, crossing her arms and whispers erupted once more.

"Merlin, you know more about magic than us, surely you can judge his words." Arturia said after a short pause.

Merlin smiled a bit and got more comfortable on his chair, "If it is His Majesty's request, I cannot complain! Yes, yes, this is truly a wonderful situation-"

"Merlin..."

"Oh! Pardon! Now, where was I? Ah yes, about what the lad said." He paused, took off his glasses and began cleaning them, "I am not very familiar with a few points he explained, however, the terms he used were not so difficult to understand, basic magic." He put his glasses back on and added, "Even you, my dear king, should be familiar with them, that is, if you paid attention to this old man's teachings some years ago."

The young king sighed and asked, "Can you give us a quick verdict?"

"Surely. I believe that he is not from this time. His anachronistic way of talking and how he looks at my robes as if they are from another world. Yes, especially how he looks at my robes." He paused, smiled and continued, "I cannot be sure if what he claims about being here to help you is true, but for now, I say that perhaps we should just keep a close eye on him."

There was a short pause and Shirou's chest was relieved from some of its pressure but he still held his breath.

"Even if Merlin is on his side, I cannot be, Your Majesty. Maybe if he could give us more proof..." Mordred said in his monotone voice, giving the defendant a nasty glance. A few knights nodded and whispered that they wanted more too.

As Shirou expected, magic terms can only convince a magus. It was a shame, after he explained everything so well... but all that was left now was option two.

"There's something else I can tell you..." He began, looking around. He took a deep breath and continued, "Some time from now, the king will fight two more battles before dying." He declared dryly. There was no need to beat around the bush or sugar coat things now.

Some people gasped while others whispered, but Shirou ignored it all and continued, "The next battle will be at Badon Hills. There, nine hundred and sixty men will fall under his blade. It will be the king's greatest victory..." Shirou gave a melancholic smile and looked down, "...But after that the kingdom will enter a state of chaos... many men will betray Arthur, among them will be some of his knights..." More whispers, "And after that... there'll be the strife of Camlann, where he'll finally die and one of his knights will return the Holy Sword to the Lady of the Lake."

A very, very long silence followed his words. Shirou didn't dare look up. He left all the names out in hope of causing as little trouble as he could, but he knew that even if he did, conflict was unavoidable.

"How... _dare_ you say that some of us will betray His Majesty..." Kay muttered, shaking with fury. "How _dare _you say that the king will die..."

Shirou looked up and watched as many other knights were considering chopping his head off at that instant.

"Calm down gentlemen, he did not say any names. None of us should feel offended. And Kay, the death of our king is inevitable now that he has lost Avalon." Lancelot said standing up. "I am with Merlin, we should let him live... for now."

"W-what!? But why...?" Kay asked in disbelief.

Arturia was the one to answer his question, "He knows too many things that are supposed to be secrets and he knows about the battle of Badon Hills... that is something only Lancelot, Bors, Gawain, Ywain and I were aware of."

"You did not tell us..."

"The idea of the Saxons attacking that part of our territory surged while we traveled back to Camelot and we are not sure about it yet, given the situation at hand, we decided to talk about that tomorrow."

"I-I see..." Kay finally uttered lowly with relief.

"It is getting late is it not?" Merlin said while he looked through the window absent mindedly, "I have a proposition. Let us keep the boy alive and look at him closely... I believe there is an empty chamber near mine that he could use..."

"But that is..." Lancelot began, but stopped.

"Hm? You were saying?"

"No, nothing, I agree with you. Having him as a prisoner is no longer needed. Now that we know this much..."

"He might not be guilty, but he is still very suspicious." Mordred said, eyeing Shirou with disgust.

"That is why we are going to keep an eye on him. I will trust you with that for now, Merlin." Arturia said and the wizard nodded with a smile. "If no one has anything else to say, let this session be closed. Tomorrow we will talk more about the matter. You can all go." She stood up followed by Guinevere who hadn't uttered a word throughout the whole meeting, and together, they left the room. Once they were out, everyone else started to stand up in no particular order and left, but not before throwing Shirou one last suspicious look.

After a couple of minutes everyone was out with the exception of Merlin, who walked slowly towards Shirou.

"Let us go, I will show you where you are staying."

"Can I... take the shackles off?" Shirou asked tentatively with hope.

"Of course, give me a second. Now, where did I put that wand..."

Shirou smiled and closed his eyes while Merlin looked for his wand inside his robes. "_Trace on_." He thought and in a matter of seconds he recognized the components of the shackles and saw its blueprint. Now, it was only a matter of putting a bit of his magical energy on them and...

CRACK

"Oh! Here you are! Now boy, c'mere."

"There's no need, I already took them off." Shirou said and showed him his free hands. "See?"

"Eh? Oh! Oh... Fantastic, but you should have told me earlier! It would have saved this old geezer so much effort..." Merlin said with lament and Shirou chuckled. "Now, now. Let us go, come over this way." He added and walked towards a different door than the one the other men took.

The redhead followed without complaints, his heart finally calming down a bit after the whole session. He was very, very tired; his arm didn't hurt as much for some odd reason but his body was a mess, every muscle seemed to be hurt and it made even walking a difficult task.

He followed Merlin through a few corridors and went down a couple of stairs until they arrived at a cold corridor with fewer rooms than the rest and finally came to a stop. They hadn't fully stopped when the old man turned around suddenly, surprising Shirou a bit.

"This is your chamber." He said, "And, that is mine." He pointed to the room across his. "If there is anything you need, I will be there most of the time, but please, knock before you go in, an old man needs some privacy too." He paused briefly and then added, "I would like to talk to you tomorrow, come to my room when you awaken."

Shirou nodded and turned the knob of his new room, but before he went in, Merlin patted his shoulder lightly.

"Oh, and take a bath before you do, you smell strongly of my dear old mare." He joked and wrinkled his nose to emphasize. Shirou frowned and sniffed himself, and the worst odor his body had ever produced met his nose.

Turning a faint shade of green, he nodded. "I-I'll do that. Thanks and good night, mister." He said with embarrassment and waved his hand at the wizard who nodded in return and went to his room. After that, Shirou entered his own room and sighed. Finally he would be able to relax.

The room lacked anything other than a bed, dresser, nightstand and chimney. It was lit up by the bright flames of the fireplace and he could see its simple and medium design. The twin windows it had were closed and every detail and furniture was white and blue. It wasn't too simple but it wasn't too fancy either. He felt content, the room met his tastes quite well.

He took off his boots and shivered when his sore bare feet touched the cold stone ground. The rest of his dirty and ragged clothes followed soon after. The condition of his broken arm was worse than he thought; it was a bit purple and smelled strongly of herbs. Discarding the thoughts of his arm, he went to the bathroom, filled a bucket with water and with a small cloth he cleaned his body as best he could.

Later, when he was done with that, he took the washing cloth that was left in the bathroom and transformed it into clean pants and a shirt with his tracing abilities. He put them on, blew the candles out and climbed the bed, letting out a content puff of air when he did so. Finally, with a little last effort he blocked the cold air with the comforters and relaxed.

He decided not to give his tired mind more work and let it rest. Tomorrow will be a new day and if everything goes well, he might even spend it normally. With this in mind he grinned, closed his eyes and soon after, the world of dreams opened its doors for him.

---

Shirou opened his eyes very early in the morning, as usual. He yawned and stretched lazily and after a little while, climbed out of bed. His body continued to feel the effects of the slumber he had awoken from only moments before and the pain in his body was less noticeable after the well-deserved rest, leaving only a few sore spots to heal. From the window he could see that the sky was still dark and it was snowing. With one last yawn, he slowly made his way to the bathroom.

It was one of those plain rooms with just the necessities for taking a bath. Yesterday he hadn't paid attention to it due to his exhaustion but now, he spotted two fine stones and used them to start a fire in order to warm up some water. He filled the bath with the hot liquid and mixed it with some cold water until it became warm. Lastly, after he stripped himself of his clothes, he slowly submerged his body in the water.

The smile on his face was so wide that it hurt. It seemed like forever since the last time he took a hot bath and he was planning on prolonging it as much as possible.

- - -

The sun was already starting to shine faintly when he was clean and ready. He closed his door, made his way to Merlin's and knocked. He waited ten, twenty, thirty seconds but no one answered.

"Excuse me, mister Merlin, it's me, Shirou." He informed while he gave the door a couple knocks.

A few seconds later, he was about to knock again when the door opened itself, revealing not the old cheerful wizard but a young and beautiful king instead. She was clad in a green damask gown and dark brown woolen pants while her hair was held up on her usual bun.

"Artu-King, er, Your Majesty, I'm sorry, I will come back later." He bowed quickly and turned half way around, but she quickly put a hand on his shoulder before he was out of reach to stop him. Just with that simple action, his entire body felt as though it has been electrocuted.

"No, you should come inside, Merlin and I were waiting for you." She said plainly, unaffected by their previous contact.

Shirou blushed and scolded himself; he was acting like a kid for heaven's sake! "Oh, alright."

She nodded and stood aside to let him proceed.

Merlin's room was bigger than his and it was_ full_ of books, he noticed; every space of the room was occupied by a stack of paper or shelves, some of them almost reached the roof. Shirou approached a pile and wiped the dust off one of them, revealing the cover which recited: 'The Magic of Art'. He couldn't help raise a brow.

"Amused by Merlin's choice of reading material?" Arturia said, standing next to him and reading the title of the book he was looking at. Her expression seemed a lot more relaxed now while she talked about Merlin and Shirou couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, caught me off guard. But where is he anyway?" Not that he didn't appreciate the time alone with her, but if he stayed here for much longer, he'd probably end up with allergies from the dust.

Arturia pointed to the right side of the room and they made their way there.

"Now where did that wench put that book...?" A voice said faintly behind a shelf of books. Some more movement was heard; footsteps, the cracking of a wooden chair been pulled and finally a yelp followed by curses.

"Are you all right?" Both Arturia and Shirou asked worriedly once they were close enough. Merlin was on the ground, a few books spread around him and his expression was something that could be considered funny if not for the fact that he was in pain.

He shook his head once to clear up the dizziness, spitting a few more curses that Shirou had never heard before. Soon after, he grabbed Arturia's extended, helping hand and propped himself up, dusting his robes unhappily. "I'm fine... bloody old chair..."

Shirou chuckled. For some reason, he found Merlin extremely amusing.

"Did you find that book you were looking for?" The king asked once the wizard fixed the chair using his magic wand, or at least that's what the stick looked like.

He sat down and let out a puff of air, "Wha- Oh! No, no. I have no idea where it could be. Already looked everywhere! That slick little thing." He sighed and seemed very sad for a moment.

"What... kind of book were you looking for, mister?" Shirou asked, still not sure how to address the wise magus.

"One that could help me, or not, figure out how to communicate through dreams." Merlin said while he made two more old chairs fly in front of the two youngsters. "Aside from a few books, all books in here are part of my research, meaning that I wrote almost all of them. But this book, the one I'm looking for... I have not even looked at it once. It fills my heart with sadness."

Shirou glanced around the piles of books the old wizard supposedly wrote, took a seat and then stared at the old man, "So, you wanted to talk to me, right?"

Arturia took a seat next to him and spoke, "That is correct. There are a few matters I want to have cleared up before I let you wonder around the castle freely."

Now _that_ made him curious. What else could it be that he has to say after last night? And wait a minute, wasn't it Merlin who wanted to talk to him? "Hmm, what is it?"

"Why do I need your help?" She asked plainly.

That question has been on his mind ever since he had that dream. Shirou knew that Arturia had a lot of problems in the past, there were so many things that troubled her, but, how could a guy like him help someone like her?

She waited patiently for him while he thought hard on how to best answer her. Maybe he has to help her in a big battle or stop someone who, like him, traveled through time and is trying to change the past. But those thoughts sounded as if they came out of a movie, which definitely couldn't be.

He frowned and looked at his lap, "I honestly don't know." He raised his head after that and watched her looking at him with an expression of disbelief. "If you are asking yourself why I came here if I didn't even know how I am supposed to help you, then call me idiot or whatever you like. To me, the only thing that matters is that you need or will need help and-"

"You are not making any sense." She interrupted him, looking a little offended by his answer. "If I need help or not should not concern you. And to actually travel through time, that is just foolish."

"Sometimes the most obvious things are the hardest to believe." Merlin commented, reminding Shirou that he was there with them. "Apparently, your death is not his main concern, after all, he spoke of the day of your death as a fact no one can change. He will be able to help in battle, perhaps?"

Arturia stood up and turned her back to them, her fists clenched. She probably has an expression of confusion at the moment, he thought. Shirou glanced at Merlin; a playful smile crossed his face while he looked at her back, "I cannot say that I believe everything about him either, Arturia, but for now, I will trust that his intentions are noble. What about you?"

The king didn't say anything for a moment as she paced around the room, contemplating her options. She spoke, after a few minutes in which she walked towards the chair she was sitting at before and propped her arms on it casually, "I will give you a chance. You will be one of my men in battle but I warn you, if you betray the little trust I am putting in you in any way, I will make sure to take your head myself."

The connection between his brain and his mouth was turned off for some reason and he had to settle down to just nod at her. The feeling she put in her eyes reminded him of the time they made their contract as servant and master, the only difference is that their roles have reversed.

With one last deep stare at his brown eyes she bowed her head at Merlin and left the room without another word, leaving Shirou dumbfounded as well as being totally in awe of her.

A cough from his left woke him from his daze, as he found that he forgot about Merlin yet again, "Wonderful, is it not? She is already fond of you, boy."

- - -

_**To be continued**_

_**

* * *

**_And that's finally done. I can't really tell if the next chapter will take long or not, it all depends on how I use my free time, please be patient, I'll try my best to finish it as soon as I can.

I made some changes to the previous chapters, nothing too big, just some things that didn't make sense or little typos.

As always any comments are useful and welcome. See you all next chapter.

-Arkueid


	7. Back and beyond Camelot

Lots of stuff has been going on around here, but I won't lie to you: I'm a lazy ass, so sorry.

Thank you for your generous reviews, they mean a lot to me and like always thank you gmsephiroth and Yuleen.

And since I always like to reply to all my reviews, at the end of the chapter is a note to the people who reviewed last chapter and did not log in or do not have an account, so check it out if you are one of those people.

WARNING: Involves established fictional characters, which may or may not fit within the reader's preconception about said characters.

DISCLAIMER: Relevant characters and source materials belong to their respective copyright owners. The author lays claim to the rest. Use for non-commercial purposes only.

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* * *

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**Turning b****ack the pendulum  
Chapter VII – **Back and beyond Camelot

_-._"Experiences are savings which a miser puts aside.  
Wisdom is an inheritance which a wastrel cannot exhaust.".- Karl Kraus

-

The bright morning sun was completely out, shinning through thick clouds and making its way under Merlin's many curtains, giving the chamber a faint and mysterious illumination.

When Arturia left, Shirou and Merlin talked about a little bit of everything for about half an hour. He told the wizard, more or less, how he had gotten to this time, and went on about his few experiences so far.

As he talked, the old man seemed unable to stay in one spot for too long. He skipped between stands of books, opened a few of them or simply passed in front of Shirou, unsettling him a bit. But after a while, at some point during the talk, Merlin started a conversation the time traveler hoped he could skip.

"They told me about the encounter with the dragon." He began casually when Shirou mentioned the _little_ problem at Cameliard.

"Dragons are dangerous magical beasts, very wise too." He continued in the same calm tone, as if he were talking about the weather. "What you did was very brave, or very foolish. It was something, prodigious, for lack of a better word." He let himself fall ungracefully on a chair near the table and motioned for him to sit as well.

Shirou remained rooted on the ground, his expression as neutral as he could make it. He didn't want to get too comfortable with this particular stranger. "I'm fine, thank you." He refused politely, looking a bit skeptical. If he had learned anything about the wizard, it was that he was very convincing and perceptive; maybe more than any other person he'd ever met.

"Well alright," Merlin said in a sing-song tone and Shirou felt his hands starting to get sweaty. "I do not know how things may have changed in your time, but here, it is not every day you see someone conjure a Reality Marble. It is a teensy weensy rare."

"A what?" Shirou blurted, narrowing his eyes.

"Do not tell me, you did not know?" Merlin asked, raising his tick eyebrows in mock surprise. "If what I heard is true, then yes, I am certain that what you did was a Reality Marble. Another world created by you, so to speak. In principle, it is something that only belongs to demons and spirits, but it is possible for an individual with high magical abilities to realize one with time."

"The question is: how could someone as young and inexperienced as you do it." He finished with a dangerous edge in his voice. The old man's eyes were practically unblinking as he waited for Shirou to say something, but the tracer only shifted his weight uncomfortably.

Just _what_ could he say?

_Well sir, at that moment ad__renaline was pumping inside me so fast that I heard a voice, it told me what to do and all of the sudden I conjured a... Reality Marble. Yeah, that's what I did._

Right.

He was well aware that what he did the other day was beyond words; it was simply out of his league. If he ever has the chance to tell Tohsaka that he managed to create a 'Reality Marble', she'll probably roll on the floor laughing or call him a charlatan and smack his head, hard.

Discarding such thoughts, he responded sincerely, "Well, mister, I'm not... sure what I did."

Merlin tapped his long nose a few times and looked outside the only window he left open, clearly unsatisfied by his answer, "Hmm, that is not something you can do out of luck. Did you use an enchantment, or a chant, perhaps?"

The tracer opened his mouth on impulse, but the voice inside his head, the same one he heard that dreadful day at Cameliard, told him otherwise.

"_Don't do it. Don't tell him anything."_ It said. Shirou closed his mouth again and he finally recognized the voice.

It was his voice. Emiya Shirou's voice.

He tilted his head and put his healthy hand on his forehead, feeling a vein pulsing painfully. One time, his friend Issei told him that when you hear your own voice on a record or on the T.V., it's hard to tell that it's really you. But man, it was so odd, if it really was his own voice, then how the heck did _he_ know that chant? "_Are you there?_" He thought, feeling very stupid. And of course, the voice never answered.

Merlin chuckled, "I must say, you are very skilled at ignoring people, it amazes even me, but please, answer me. I am trying to understand everything better." He insisted, his voice full of sympathy. Shirou was having a really hard time not telling him everything right there and end up with it.

"I, I really don't know. Sorry." He lied, his voice carrying a tone that was unconvincing even to him.

Merlin's eyes twinkled for a moment and his expression became cold, "My, my. Of course you do not know." He said sharply and Shirou felt as if the room dropped a few degrees. The magus gave him one last dark look and as if nothing ever happened, he continued in a cheery tone, "Well then! Let me look at your arm! I am not a very good healer, but I have been told that in a life or death situation, I was better than nothing!"

"_Is someone slipping mood modifiers in his drink?" _Shirou pondered with a raised brow.

He forced a smile at Merlin's joke and blinked a few times. After a little pause, he decided not to tempt the wizard's patience more than he already has and reluctantly showed him his broken arm - which was an interesting green-purple, color - and braced himself for the worst.

Merlin grabbed his arm gently and examined it for a while, his eyebrows narrowing so much that they seemed to merge together. "It looks awful. I suppose it's better than before, Gawain's herbs must be doing their trick, but..." He lightly tapped his wand three times on his arm and whispered something too low for Shirou to hear.

At first, nothing happened, but a full minute later, Shirou started to feel as if millions of ants were crawling inside his arm. It was an extremely uncomfortable feeling, but luckily, after five minutes of this torture, his arm started to feel a lot better and the tingling sensation subsided.

Merlin let go of his arm and nodded, "How is it now?"

The teen examined it in astonishment. The sickly color was mostly gone and although there was pain still present, he had admit that he felt a lot better, so much that he could even move his arm and flex it a bit. "W-wow, it feels a lot better now, thank you very much sir." He smiled, not hiding his surprise.

"You are welcome. But still, do not strain yourself, you should be feeling less pain, but your bones are still recovering." Merlin explained, standing up and looking for something between a pile of papers and what seemed like lab equipment. He pulled out something up with an 'Aha,' and grinned at Shirou, extending a test tube with some bright lime green liquid inside; the kind of green that would normally be accompanied by a 'Warning. Do not drink' label.

"Drink this; I assure you will feel better in no time!"

Shirou took the tube and looked from it to Merlin repeatedly. "_What's the worst that can happen?_" He thought positively, "_Growing another head, at least_." Was his immediate self-reply. Frowning, he concluded that if Merlin wanted to kill him, he would have done so already. So, squeezing his eyes tightly and taking a very deep breath, he gulped the whole tube at once.

If he thought that the... the _thing_ Lancelot gave him to get warm tasted bad, he was oh so wrong. That tasted like the most delicious brand of wine in comparison to the fluid of doom that was now running down his throat. It tasted like crap, excrement, secretion and all others synonyms of body wastes, literally.

Shirou started coughing hard, shaking his head and grabbing his throat while nausea overcame him. Merlin smirked like a little kid, "Wow, your face turned the most wonderful tone of green I have ever seen. You have officially beaten Arthur by far! But still, you should have seen that child's face!" He joked, sighing at the 'good' memory.

Shirou tried to picture a green and disgusted Arturia in his head but it was too difficult to imagine.

After the nausea was mostly gone, he coughed some more until the taste subsided a bit and his mouth opened as he tried to say something; an insult, anything he could, but no sound came out. His voice box seemed to have been broken.

"Better? Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to do some boring, old-man things alone. You should go and eat something." As if on cue, Shirou's stomach growled loudly.

"R-ight." Shirou managed to utter hopelessly, finding his voice again. The fact that he hadn't eaten anything but old bread the last few days was a painful reminder now. "Than-ks ag-ain." He whispered, bowing his head.

"That is quite fine, boy." Merlin lead the redhead to the door, opened it for him and when the tracer was out he added, "I do not know whether war is an interlude during peace, or peace an interlude during war*, but let us enjoy this little peaceful time while we can, shall we?" He said and Shirou nodded slowly. "Enjoy your breakfast."

- - -

At around nine in the morning, Shirou _finally_ found the kitchen. He couldn't help but wonder if all castles were this big; he knew castles were supposed to be spacious but this one was ridiculously _huge_. He had gone up three set of stairs, walked through four long corridors and even went through a bridge that connected a part of the castle with another; oh, and he almost froze when he went through it.

He read in a book that at these hours, the food was taken away from the great hall. So, in order to fill his stomach, he'll have to ask a lady at the kitchen for some leftovers or something.

He looked outside a window and sighed at the impressive view. From where he stood, he could see the many houses around the castle and even what was beyond the thick stone border walls. A thin layer of snow covered what was once a vast green field and even some of the trees had a few leaves left.

He stood in front of the door, a little out of breath and getting annoyed at the whispers and funny looks people around were giving him as he went. "_Damn gossipers" _He thought, glaring at a guard near the door who stared at him for too long.

If he could count out something positive about the last half an hour of his life, it was that the horrendous taste of Merlin's potion was finally gone from his mouth and that his arm was recovering abnormally fast.

"_Just where__ did these kinds of incredibly fast recovery potions go in the future?"_ He seriously pondered, opening the door slowly.

The kitchen turned out to be a bit different from what he'd seen in the book on castles. It was a cozy and spacious room made out of brown rocks that stood out from the walls. The ceiling had a curved form that made the room look even bigger and a lone old chandelier hung up from it. The middle of the room was occupied by a huge wooden table with lots of raw food and bread. The kitchen utensils were set at wooden stands along some other kitchen things.

A beefy middle-aged woman was humming a tune happily while she cleaned the table with a damp cloth, completely unaware of his intrusion. Shirou's cleared his throat and knocked the door and the lady looked up and immediately; her rosy cheeks went pale and her expression changed from cheerful to terrified.

"Ehm," Shirou began, a little taken aback by her sudden reaction, "Excuse me… I was wondering if there was anything I could eat ple-"

"Oi!" Someone shouted loudly from behind him and Shirou's heart almost left his body. He held his chest and turned around slowly to see who it was that yelled.

His eyes went wide and his frown disappeared completely as a familiar blond man stared back at him.

"Percival!" Shirou said with a smile.

"God's eye mate! I thought I would never see you again! And with all those comments going around and all..." The young man said rolling his eyes.

Shirou raised a brow and looked back at the still paralyzed lady, "What kind of comments?"

Percival sighed and went towards the woman. "Do not worry Rosy, he is not a bad guy. He is with me." Percival told her. She glanced at Shirou again and nodded slowly.

"You just have to go and find the oddest and most dangerous friends, don't you Perci?" She whispered, but Shirou heard her as clear as water. Percival laughed jovially and she nudged his shoulder playfully.

"Let us talk while we eat. I am starving." The blond pointed at two chairs and sat down on one. Shirou followed soon after, giving the lady a pleading look that made her smile a bit. She nodded and began serving him a plate.

A low moan threatened to escape his mouth at the sight of food. He waited eagerly until Rosy presented him and Percival with plates full of bread and fish, and a couple of jugs of ale.

"Thank you Rose." The younger man said, taking a bite from his bread.

Shirou grabbed his knife and fork, glad that he could finally use both hands and stuffed his mouth with food ungracefully, almost swallowing it.

"Wow, at least taste it." Percival told him in between laughs with a mouthful of bread. Shirou uttered something that sounded like 'Shut up, I was starving.' and swallowed down half of the jug. "And I thought _I_ was hungry."

Shirou swallowed hard, "Is the food always this delicious?" He asked, ignoring Percival's last comment and taking a bite of some bread; not really paying attention to the taste of it and even less to what it was.

"No. You are just hungry." Percival replied shrugging and drinking from his jug. From behind him, Rosy glared at him making Shirou grin and slow down a bit.

"I always miss the breakfast. I guess you did too, eh Shin?"

Shirou nodded, "Yeah…" He looked at the blond guiltily and frowned. "Hey, actually my name is not Shin, you know. I'm Shirou. Sorry that I lied to you."

He looked up at Shirou and laughed, "I already knew that mate, no offense taken."

Shirou raised a brow and coughed. "So, what are people talking about?"

"You."

Shirou rolled his eyes, "I know. I mean, what exactly are they saying?"

"Ah," Percival cleared his throat and smiled a bit. "Well, yesterday was pretty hectic. The king and his troops finally arrived, but they brought a prisoner. Everyone was saying different things about why you were captured and well, someone actually managed to get some information about what you said at the Round Table, or so they say."

"WHAT?!" Shirou yelled, spitting bread all over Percival's face.

"Ugh, thank you, mate." The young man muttered, disgusted. He wiped his face with a damp cloth and went on, "I do not know if it is true though, you know how rumors run around this place."

No, he didn't,"But anyway, they are saying that you have some kind of mysterious power and that you defeated the dragon at Cameliard by yourself." He rolled his eyes, "I highly doubt so. The king, Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain and Sir Bors were there after all." He took a sip from his drink, "They also say that you are not from this country. And well, I... actually think you are not." He blurted the last part and stared at his plate shyly.

Shirou observed Percival with something close to shock. Almost everything he told him was true. What in the world was wrong with the privacy at his place? How much did that person actually _hear_? And wait a minute, did they know about the time traveling then?

"That's... a bit preposterous, don't you think?" Shirou said awkwardly, drinking down the rest of his jug to clear his dry throat.

"Of course! I mean, maybe you are a great fighter but, killing a dragon on your own? Rubbish." He snorted and waved his hand. Shirou gave him a plastic smile and continued to eat silently until his plate was completely clean, not even a single crumb left.

"Ah, that was great." The tracer sighed, relaxing a bit on his chair and rubbing his belly. "But hey, did they say anything else…?" Something like: _He is a time traveler!_

Percival laughed mirthfully and shook his head, "I admire your appetite and no, not that I know of."

Shirou sighed and nodded. He relaxed and fought the urge to doze off right there.

"Say," His companion began, "You are not actually from here, are you?"

The time traveler looked at Percival for a few seconds, judging his serious expression.

It was probably quite obvious. It just took some time knowing him to guess that he at the very least wasn't from this country. Percival most likely figured that out, and with the rumors going on, it must have given him more reason to believe so.

"No." Shirou said plainly, scratching the back of his head. "But I'm not some kind of spy or anything of the sort. I came here to help." He finished lamely.

Percival raised a brow, "To help?"

"It's complicated and, I can't tell you, sorry." He lowered his head and avoided looking at his friend.

"Oh, I wish you could tell me." The younger man pouted and paused, "But, if you cannot, then it is quite fine. If the king trusts you then I will too." He said solemnly. Shirou was a bit moved by his devotion.

"Besides, you do not seem bad to me. For the little time I've known you, I could almost feel that you have good intentions. You are too oblivious of your surroundings to be a bad guy." He grinned.

"Thanks, _mate_." Shirou joked and smirked. He felt really happy to be able to find a friend, and Percival was someone he knew he could trust for now.

They talked for a while longer about how things around the castle work, neither of them willing to stand up with their stomachs as full as they were. Shirou laughed as Percival explained to him about his life at the castle and at how Rossy seemed to know him very well, commenting now and then. It turned out that the young man came to live here after he decided to become a knight and he trained fervently under a man called Gornemant de Goort.

"I used to live in the woods with my mother and my brother." He told him, "She did not like anything that had to do with knighthood, but I convinced her to let me be one; she approved after some begging."

"How long have you been here?" Shirou asked him with interest.

"Around five years. It is my goal to be a Knight of the Round Table some day." He sighed and stared at the ceiling with a faraway look that made Shirou smile. "What about you? Do you want to become one?"

He looked at Percival a bit uneasily, "I don't know. I guess it'll be... nice?"

The blond stared at him incredulously, "Nice? It would be the greatest honor! And who knows, maybe if you defeat another dragon they will make you one." He laughed and stood up. "Come on, I will show you around. We can even spar if you feel like it."

Shirou took a look at his arm and wondered if it was too soon to hold a sword. But oh well, he could think about it later.

- - -

A few hours later, the two of them had walked around a great portion of the castle. Shirou tried to remember all the things Percival had told him about shortcuts for easier navigation and what each room and corridor was for. The task was proving to be harder than he expected as the huge castle seemed to be one of the biggest he'd ever seen. Not that he had seen a lot of castles, but he'd bet they aren't as big!

They were walking around a corner, for once not talking, when they heard some suspicious whispers.

Shirou gasped as Percival pulled him by the collar of his shirt and made a gesture for him to be silent. The tracer glared at him but didn't say a word.

"No." They heard a woman say lowly. Her voice sounded hurt and breathless.

Shirou looked at Percival for an explanation but the blond was in spy-mode now; his back against the wall and his ears hearing intently. "What are you doing?" The redhead whispered in the younger teen's ear. Percival merely scowled at him and brought a finger to his lips, making Shirou roll his eyes. "That's rude, you know." He whispered again, but the blond ignored him.

"Why not?" A male voice whispered huskily. It was very low, but Shirou knew that voice. "_Is that Lancelot?" _He wondered, standing next to Percival and listening.

"You know why." The female responded and the sound of steps could be heard, albeit far from them. A long and tense silence followed that and both teens gulped.

"It does not matter." Lancelot whispered a bit louder, his voice shaking slightly.

"Of course it does." Pause, "You know it does." Awkward silence, "Leave here, now." She ordered weakly.

"No." He said firmly and they heard a gasp and then silence.

Shirou took a peek and saw something that he _really_ shouldn't have seen. Behind some old and rusty suit of armor, Lancelot and Queen Guinevere were engaged in the most passionate kiss he had ever seen. He blushed and looked away immediately, hiding behind the corner. Percival looked at him with confusion, ready to take a peek too, but the tracer grabbed his arm, pulled him away from the wall and quickly, but quietly dragged him going back the same corridor from where they came.

Once they were a safe distance away, Percival stopped and looked frantically behind them, making sure no one was around. "What is it?! Just what did you see?" He whisper-yelled. Shirou wasn't sure if yelling and whispering at the same time was possible, but Percival managed to pull it off.

"N-nothing. I just think we shouldn't be listening at other people's conversation like that, that's all." He uttered and mock glared at him. Percival raised a brow.

"Well, pardon, but I think that was Queen Guinevere… and it sounded suspicious." He crossed his arms on his chest and stared at the corridor they just took, as if expecting someone to come.

Shirou glanced outside the window and an idea occurred to him, "If it was the queen, then that gives you more reason not to eavesdrop. You are disrespecting your queen." He told Percival, acting sternly.

Percival took a step back and his eyes went wide before he looked at the ground guiltily, "Its just that, Queen Guinevere sounded like she was in trouble…"

"She wasn't." Shirou said quickly and images of what he saw replayed in his head, "Believe me, she was just fine."

Percival looked up to him and shook his head, "I should go and make sure she is fine. It is my duty as a knight to assure Her Majesty's safety." He said firmly.

Shirou sighed, "You do that. I'll look around a bit more and then wait for you at the training ground. I feel a bit rusty."

The blond smiled and nodded, "Are you certain you will not get lost without me?" He joked.

"Go away." Shirou snorted and Percival left laughing.

- - -

The training ground was a bit crowded when he arrived. A few men were cheering and throwing all kind of suggestions to a couple of fighters in the middle of a circle. Like most of the not-so-important rooms of the castle, this one was a very simple stone made square with a few weapons decorating its walls.

There were some training dummies and weapon stands at a side of the room and Shirou decided to just go and practice with one of the swords and warm up.

He took a rusty but decent looking sword from the stand and gave it a few testing swings with his much better looking right hand. He smiled widely when he felt no pain and continued swinging and thrusting mindlessly.

So entranced he was on his training that he didn't notice that the cheers increased. He didn't notice that a sepulchral silence followed soon after and he definitely didn't notice as a person approached until a sword stopped his own when he turned back and slashed.

Shirou's brown eyes widened considerably as they met Lancelot's piercing blue ones; the former looking deadly as his sword pushed Shirou's back. The tracer stood in fighting position as Lancelot gave a step back.

"Didn't see you there, Sir Lancelot." Shirou said, taking a raspy breath.

"You must be blind then, Shirou Emiya." The brunette replied grievously. "I have been here since you came, but obviously you were too deep in La-La-Land to notice me." He added and Shirou frowned slightly. "Hope you do not mind a little duel." And without waiting for his answer, he charge rapidly at him.

Shirou almost lost his balance when he blocked a very potent and well aimed attack at his neck. His sword looked insignificant beside Lancelot's shiny and fine one. He ground his teeth and used all his strength to pull back again and feeling daring, he slashed horizontally. Lancelot dodged his attack without effort and immediately countered by thrusting his sword towards Shirou's heart.

The tracer barely dodged when another attack, again aimed at his neck was sent at him. Unfortunately, he didn't come out untouched but luckily his head was still on his shoulders. He felt the familiar burning sensation on his neck and flinched. Lancelot stood back a bit and looked at him with something close to smugness shadowed by disappointment.

"I thought that after what you did, you would be able to at least defend yourself, Shirou Emiya." He said coolly. "Here I come."

Before Shirou could even think, his sword was already flying out of his hands and as if in slow motion he saw Lancelot's sword coming in a vertical slash towards his face. Self-preservation took over, and without even concentrating, Kanshou and Bakuya appeared in his hands just in time to intercept the knight's attack.

From between his swords, the redhead saw Lancelot raise an eyebrow, but the brunette didn't pull back this time.

"Very daring are you not, Shirou Emiya? And even in front of so many people." His eyes shined with what Shirou thought was glee and excitement, "But," The swords started to tremble under the pressure that their wielders were giving them, "That is not. Enough. To defeat me!" Lancelot growled and the power Shirou felt was so great that he was on his knees before he knew it.

With another swing of his sword, Lancelot made Shirou fall off balance and land on his butt. Desperate, the time traveler reached for his sword and tried to stand up as fast as he could but Lancelot's sword was already pointed just an inch away from his nose.

A burst of cheers and applauds erupted and the time traveler wondered if everybody had been holding their breaths.

Lancelot pulled his sword away and gave Shirou a little smile before extending his arm. Shirou looked a bit skeptical, but accepted it.

"You did well, you are just in need of some practice," Lancelot told him lowly after he prompted the younger man up. Shirou looked at him, smiled tiredly and let go of his hand.

"Maybe you could teach me some tricks." He said in between breaths. And to his surprise, Lancelot chuckled.

"I am far from a good teacher, but maybe you could ask Bors." He said, tilting his head over Shirou. The redhead turned around and blushed.

Bors was waving and giving them a toothy smile, but what surprised him the most was that he was not alone. Besides him was Arturia, and she was smiling a bit too.

- - -

_**To be continued**_

_**

* * *

**_**Notes:** If you are wondering when the Saber/Shirou action will start, don't worry folks, I promise you it'll be soon.

What Merlin said at the end of his and Shirou's meeting is a famous quote by Georges Clemenceau. Heh, I love great quotes.

**To Nubitox:** Yeah, I'm also a sucker for that kind of set up, so you'll probably get a lot of that, lol.  
**To someone:** Thank you, I'm doing my best.  
**To abc:** Thanks, hope you liked this chapter.  
**To Wind:** Thanks. I'll really, really try to update soon.  
**To Frank:** I'm really flattered that someone who is not used to read fanfics liked mine so much. Thanks a lot and hope you like the rest of the fic.  
**To Anonymous:** Yeah, sorry about that, updating is becoming harder than I thought.


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